"It's always tough up here" – Leinster's Jack Conan and Leo Cullen delighted with 'tenacious' win against Ulster
12/03/2024 04:48 AM
It's now a magnificent seven for league leaders Leinster Rugby who just keep on winning. This past weekend saw Leinster endure their toughest match of the URC season, as they traveled up to Belfast for a battle with Ulster. You wondered if they might finally have found their match, when they trailed 13-10 to Kingspan Stadium late on Friday evening.
But three second half tries saw Leinster secure a 27-20 bonus point victory, to stretch their lead at the top of the table to seven points, following their seventh consecutive win. That's now 34 points out of a possible 35 for Leo Cullen's side who – after a four week break – have simply carried on where they left off in the opening block of URC matches.
Cullen commented: "You are not really too sure what to expect in these games where both teams haven't played in a while. You could see the game probably reflected that. It was a bit disjointed at times, with a few different stoppages.
"The first half was pretty scratchy and we were 13-10 down, but there was definitely a big improvement in the second half. We were a hell of a lot better. We just got a little more ascendancy, played in the right areas and scored some good tries, which is pleasing.
"Ulster came back into it and it went down to the very end. There were some big defensive sets from us. We are delighted to get the win and five points because we knew how tough it was going to be up here. It was pretty ugly though at times. It wasn't perfect, but we will take it."
Giving his thoughts, Leinster skipper Jack Conan said: "We knew it was going to be unbelievably tough coming up here. Ulster are an incredibly tenacious side. They stick in it for 80 minutes, so we are delighted to get the win. You could see we started off a bit slowly, but we came into our own in the second half and were able to put a few scores on the board."
Try scoring full-back Jimmy O'Brien, the Player of the Match in front of an attendance of 16,491, added: "I love playing here. The crowd was unbelievable. It's very hostile. It feels like they are all against you, which is a good thing as it brings you all together.
"It's always tough up here. We lost here last season, so it was great to get the win. I thought our pack was brilliant. They were unbelievable."
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