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Contentious call helps Leinster pip Ulster in top-of-the-table clash
A dominant first half helped Leinster triumph 20-13 and go three wins from three in a top-of-the-table Irish derby clash with Ulster at a rain-swept Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
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Tries from Ryan Baird and Dan Sheehan, along with two conversions and two penalties from Ross Byrne, brought Leinster the four points on an evening when Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton made his first appearance of the season off the bench.
After trailing 17-3 at the break, Ulster battled back through a John Andrew try which was supplemented by two penalties and a conversion from John Cooney to claim the losing bonus point.
Leinster’s Baird scored the game’s first points after seven minutes when the visitors moved the ball at pace down the left flank, with quick hands from Garry Ringrose and Dave Kearney creating the space for Baird to make the corner.
Byrne added a great conversion to make it 7-0 to the visitors.
Two minutes after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, Cooney landed a long-range penalty to narrow Leinster’s lead.
On 20 minutes, Leinster had their second try when Sheehan smashed his way over from a lineout maul which Byrne again converted.
The remainder of the half was dominated by a torrential downpour and the only score came from the boot of Byrne after Leinster opted for the posts with a 37th-minute penalty.
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The opening 40 minutes ended with Leinster leading 17-3
Jacob Stockdale failed to return for the new half after picking up a worrying-looking ankle problem, having endured a similar issue last season.
Leinster’s lead became 20-3 five minutes after the restart, with Byrne’s second penalty.
With Jimmy O’Brien sin-binned in the 61st minute, Ulster put the penalty to the corner and, from the maul, replacement hooker Andrew touched down. Cooney’s conversion cut Leinster’s lead to 10 points.
Ulster worked Aaron Sexton over the line in the 68th minute only for Charlie Ngatai to dislodge the ball in the act of scoring and the try was ruled out.
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Ulster 10-20 Leinster
69' Ulster think they have scored a second try, but the TMO rules that Charlie Ngatai dislodges the ball from Aaron Sexton. A crucial intervention?Watch ?https://t.co/CStwnXf2cB
? Updates ? https://t.co/aYTTJPkSeX
? Listen ? https://t.co/7eKrwJNXCL pic.twitter.com/wmDDzGrJlc— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 30, 2022
Cooney kicked a 71st-minute penalty to make it 20-13 to Leinster but, from there, the game petered out with neither side able to score again.
Comments on RugbyPass
Can’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
11 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
11 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
5 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to comments