Ulster gave Roger Wilson, Ruan Pienaar and Ricky Lutton the prefect send off with victory over Irish rivals Leinster at a sun-kissed Kingspan Stadium this afternoon.
Wilson was the star in his 221st and final game for the province scoring a try and earning the man of the match award with a typical all-action performance.
Wilson scored in the first half and Andrew Trimble dotted down in the second to end a three game winless streak.
Out half Joey Carbery gave the visitors the lead with a third minute penalty after a high tackle by Alan O’Connor.
Wilson got the game’s first try on nine minutes.
From a penalty close to the line Ulster opted for a scrum, Stuart McCloskey charged close to the line before Wilson picked up and went over from a couple of metres with Paddy Jackson converting.
Leinster missed an opportunity to cut Ulster’s lead when Carbery saw a 20th minute penalty cannon off the post and Robbie Diack tidied up for Ulster.
Carbery made amends two minutes later with a simple penalty from in front of the posts after Ulster failed to roll away from the tackle.
Ulster missed an opportunity to extend their lead on 34 minutes, they kicked a penalty to touch, O’Connor won the lineout at the back to set up a driving maul, prop Andy Warwick broke but Rob Herring could catch his pass and knocked on.
Jackson extended Ulster’s advantage to 10-6 at the interval with a long penalty with the final kick of the first half when Leinster went off their feet at the ruck.
Skipper Andrew Trimble got Ulster’s second try on 54 minutes.
Trimble went close after coming onto a long floated pass by McCloskey, Diack had a probing run but was held up, Jackson was next to go close after taking the ball one handed, Rob Herring was repelled by the Leinster defence before Pienaar put in a cross field kick which Trimble caught to touch down in the corner and Jackson added the conversion from a difficult angle.
Leinster’s response was immediate but replacement prop Cian Healy was held up over the line.
Leinster did get a try two minutes later when they forced a penalty try.
Ulster had infringed at a couple of scrums, from the next one the pack lost its bind and referee Andrew Brace awarded Leinster a penalty try with Carbery landed the simple conversion.
// Teams
Ulster:
C Gilroy, A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, C Piutau, P Jackson, R Pienaar,
A Warwick, R Herring, R Ah You, K Treadwell, A O'Connor, R Diack, S Reidy, R Wilson,
Replacements:
J Andrew for Herring 75 mins, K McCall for Warwick 66 mins, R Lutton for Ah You 30 mins, C Henry for Wilson 62 mins, N Timoney for Treadwell 66 mins P Marshall for Pienaar, P Nelson for Piutau, J Stockdale for Gilroy 48 mins
Leinster:
I Nacewa, A Byrne, G Ringrose, N Reid, F McFadden, J Carbery, L McGrath,
J McGrath, J Tracy, T Furlong, D Toner, H Triggs, R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Conan,
Replacements:
R Strauss for Tracy 54 mins, C Healy for J McGrath 54 mins, A Porter for Furlong 74 mins, R Molony for Triggs 54 mins, Dan Leavy for van der Flier 54 mins, J Gibson-Park for L McGrath, R Byrne, R O'Loughlin for Reid 72 mins
Ref A Brace (IRFU)
Wilson was the star in his 221st and final game for the province scoring a try and earning the man of the match award with a typical all-action performance.
Wilson scored in the first half and Andrew Trimble dotted down in the second to end a three game winless streak.
Out half Joey Carbery gave the visitors the lead with a third minute penalty after a high tackle by Alan O’Connor.
Wilson got the game’s first try on nine minutes.
From a penalty close to the line Ulster opted for a scrum, Stuart McCloskey charged close to the line before Wilson picked up and went over from a couple of metres with Paddy Jackson converting.
Leinster missed an opportunity to cut Ulster’s lead when Carbery saw a 20th minute penalty cannon off the post and Robbie Diack tidied up for Ulster.
Carbery made amends two minutes later with a simple penalty from in front of the posts after Ulster failed to roll away from the tackle.
Ulster missed an opportunity to extend their lead on 34 minutes, they kicked a penalty to touch, O’Connor won the lineout at the back to set up a driving maul, prop Andy Warwick broke but Rob Herring could catch his pass and knocked on.
Jackson extended Ulster’s advantage to 10-6 at the interval with a long penalty with the final kick of the first half when Leinster went off their feet at the ruck.
Skipper Andrew Trimble got Ulster’s second try on 54 minutes.
Trimble went close after coming onto a long floated pass by McCloskey, Diack had a probing run but was held up, Jackson was next to go close after taking the ball one handed, Rob Herring was repelled by the Leinster defence before Pienaar put in a cross field kick which Trimble caught to touch down in the corner and Jackson added the conversion from a difficult angle.
Leinster’s response was immediate but replacement prop Cian Healy was held up over the line.
Leinster did get a try two minutes later when they forced a penalty try.
Ulster had infringed at a couple of scrums, from the next one the pack lost its bind and referee Andrew Brace awarded Leinster a penalty try with Carbery landed the simple conversion.
// Teams
Ulster:
C Gilroy, A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, C Piutau, P Jackson, R Pienaar,
A Warwick, R Herring, R Ah You, K Treadwell, A O'Connor, R Diack, S Reidy, R Wilson,
Replacements:
J Andrew for Herring 75 mins, K McCall for Warwick 66 mins, R Lutton for Ah You 30 mins, C Henry for Wilson 62 mins, N Timoney for Treadwell 66 mins P Marshall for Pienaar, P Nelson for Piutau, J Stockdale for Gilroy 48 mins
Leinster:
I Nacewa, A Byrne, G Ringrose, N Reid, F McFadden, J Carbery, L McGrath,
J McGrath, J Tracy, T Furlong, D Toner, H Triggs, R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Conan,
Replacements:
R Strauss for Tracy 54 mins, C Healy for J McGrath 54 mins, A Porter for Furlong 74 mins, R Molony for Triggs 54 mins, Dan Leavy for van der Flier 54 mins, J Gibson-Park for L McGrath, R Byrne, R O'Loughlin for Reid 72 mins
Ref A Brace (IRFU)