Debutant Rea Delivers Derby-Winning Try For Ulster

Marcus Rea, an early replacement for Sean Reidy, was a try-scoring man-of-the-match on his debut for Ulster, who pipped Conference B winners Leinster 14-13 at Kingspan Stadium ahead of next week’s quarter-final against Connacht.

The GUINNESS PRO14 play-off picture was already clear for both sides as Leinster had already sewn up top spot and Ulster’s recent win at Edinburgh secured their second place finish. Tries from Jimmy O’Brien and Fergus McFadden, sandwiching a David Shanahan effort, gave the visitors a 13-7 half-time lead in Belfast.

Forward pressure and a succession of penalties saw the Ulstermen hammer away at the Leinster line in the third quarter, with sin-binned lock Oisin Dowling paying the price for those infringements. The hosts’ patience was rewarded when 21-year-old Academy back rower Rea drove over for a 60th-minute match-winning try.

Leinster replacement Barry Daly almost responded but he injured his arm when attempting to score from Ciaran Frawley’s kick through. Another interprovincial derby awaits Dan McFarland’s men next Saturday when they host Connacht (kick-off 5.35pm). The winners of that game will travel to Conference A winners Glasgow Warriors at the semi-final stage on Friday, May 17 (kick-off 7.35pm).

Table-topping Leinster now have two weeks to prepare for their Heineken Champions Cup final against Saracens on Saturday week, before returning to the RDS on Saturday, May 18 (kick-off 3pm) for their PRO14 semi-final against either Munster or Benetton Rugby, who meet in Limerick in a week’s time.

24-year-old out-half Ross Byrne captained Leinster this evening for the first time in his career, while former Ireland centre Darren Cave, who is hanging up his boots at the end of the season, led an Ulster team which included the fit-again David Busby who made his seasonal debut on the right wing.

Storm Hannah ensured some tricky conditions, including a swirling wind, and the slippery ball foiled Leinster full-back O’Brien early on, following good work by Nick McCarthy to spring Bryan Byrne through a gap. Captain Byrne was unable to reward the Leinster scrum with the opening points, sending a 10th-minute place-kick wide of the target.

Defences were on top during some scrappy phases either side of the first quarter mark, but the attacking quality improved with Ulster-bound prop Jack McGrath providing a solid scrum platform for Leinster. In response, Ulster’s back-line clicked with Johnny McPhillips dinking an inviting kick through for Michael Lowry to burst onto but the visitors were able to force a turnover.

The breakthrough finally came in the 29th minute when some promising play through 14 phases ended with Byrne fizzing a flat pass out for the waiting O’Brien to collect and slide over for his third try of the PRO14 campaign. Noel Reid’s clever midfield pass and Joe Tomane’s decoy run were key elements of the build-up. The conversion from out wide was missed by Byrne.

Ulster hit back quickly with a seven-pointer from impressive scrum half David Shanahan, the home attack ignited by a couple of purposeful runs from Cave and Lowry. Shanahan was the link man, carrying twice and as he was not held in a tackle close to the Leinster line, he managed to get up and ground the ball despite the best efforts of McCarthy. McPhillips’ conversion moved the hosts in front.

However, Leinster were the better team in the final minutes of the first half. Dave Kearney went close to scoring their second try before Byrne regained the lead with a 39th minute penalty. Using an Alan O’Connor penalty to press from a late lineout, Reid’s sharp distribution was evident again as he was twice involved, flinging a pass wide for a bandaged McFadden to squeeze over in the right corner.

Ulster were led back into scoring range by the fast-breaking Lowry and the supporting Shanahan, with lock O’Connor only just held up. A bout of dogged defending kept the home side out until a fourth penalty led to Dowling’s yellow card. Leinster continued to make their tackles in what was developing into a real arm-wrestle.

Nonetheless, Ulster’s persistent attacks were rewarded when debutant Rea spotted some space at the side of a ruck, showing pace and power to hurtle through and turn in a double tackle from Caelan Doris and McCarthy to get the ball down to the left of the posts. Peter Nelson’s conversion proved to be the final scoring act in a closely-fought final quarter.

Debutant lock Ryan Baird, a member of Ireland’s Under-20 Grand Slam-winning squad, replaced Dowling in the visitors’ engine room, and Leinster’s best chance to answer back came from fellow replacement Frawley’s kick at the end of an incisive attack. Daly unfortunately was unable to touch it down before the end-line, and Ulster closed out the result thanks to a scrum penalty and a Cave turnover in the dying minutes.

Academy talent Rea, who enjoyed the occasion even more with his older brother in the Ulster pack, said: “I’m lucky I had Matthew there to help me across the line. I said to him a few times, ‘I’m too tired here, you’re going to have to carry me a wee bit’. Together we got ourselves over the line, we got the team over the line.

“Pre-season game, the first thing I did was drop the ball. That was kinda at the back of my head, but I kinda wiped that away once Reidy came off and I knew it was going to be a HIA for the full game. I was just happy to get on, get on with Matthew and do my bit for the team.

“I’m just going to keep training, it’s all I can do for the next few weeks and on into pre-season. just keep my head down and keep putting in the performances whether it be club or ‘A’ team or hopefully in the first team.”