Tries from O’Brien, Healy, Van der Merwe and Cronin built up Leinster’s unsurpassable tally but Ulster only managed one try during a high-paced Heineken Cup final.
Two early bursts from Darren Cave gave Leinster an early warning from the underdogs and it wasn’t long before Ruan Pienaar provided the game with its opening points from the kicking tee.
The reigning champions scored the opening try after ten minutes of play. Several phases of play culminated in a final push for the line by Sean O’Brien which the Video Referee confirmed. Jonny Sexton converted but his boot failed him shortly after with a missed penalty kick.
Another lengthy stint of attack from Leinster was scrappy and the Ulster defence was doing its job well. Eventually Isa Nacewa was forced into touch by Stephen Ferris as he tried to play the ball back inside to O’Driscoll. Leinster held the lead but both teams had clear intentions on winning this title.
With eight minutes until the end of the half, Leinster dominated an Ulster scrum which sparked a counter-attack. O’Brien broke away and was taken down metres from the try line and the speed of the attack meant Cian Healy had space to drive over the line for Leinster’s second try.
Ruan Pienaar rounded off the first half with a penalty to give his side a late boost leaving the scoreboard at 14-6.
But in the opening stages of the second half a Leinster driving maul was too much for the Ulster defence and Nigel Owens awarded a penalty try which Sexton easily converted. Pienaar started off a long, long fight back for the Ulstermen with a penalty on the fifty minute mark but his opposite number Sexton replied almost instantly with a penalty of his own.
Pienaar couldn’t convert but the try meant gap was narrowed to ten points with twenty minutes to go.
Sexton dealt another hard blow to Ulster with a penalty twelve minutes from time to widen the gap to thirteen points.
As time ticked on, Ulster’s chances looked ever more bleak and with eight minutes on the clock, Terblanche was sinbinned for some dangerous, and clearly frustrated, tackling late on. Heinke van der Merwe completed the rout for Leinster and Sean Cronin rubbed salt in Ulster’s wounds with one final score to complete another destructive Heineken Cup campaign for Leinster.
Details:
Scores: 0-3 Pienaar pen, 5-3 O’Brien try, 7-3 Sexton con, 12-3 Healy try, 14-3 Sexton con, 14-6 Pienaar pen, 19-6 Penalty try, 21-6 Sexton con, 21-9 Pienaar pen, 24-9 Sexton, 24-14 Tuohy try, 27-14 Sexton pen, 30-14 Sexton pen, 35-14 Van der Merwe try, 40-14 Cronin try, 42-14 McFadden con
Leinster: 15 R Kearney; 14 F McFadden, 13 B O'Driscoll, 12 G D'Arcy, 11 I Nacewa; 10 J Sexton, 9 E Reddan; 1 C Healy, 2 R Strauss, 3 M Ross, 4 L Cullen (c), 5 B Thorn, 6 K McLaughlin, 7 S O'Brien, 8 J Heaslip
Ulster: 15 S Terblanche; 14 A Trimble, 13 D Cave, 12 P Wallace, 11 C Gilroy; 10 P Jackson, 9 R Pienaar; 1 T Court, 2 R Best, 3 J Afoa, 4 J Muller (c), 5 D Tuohy, 6 S Ferris, 7 C Henry, 8 P Wannenburg
Yellow Cards: S Terblanche (72 minutes)
HT Score: 14-6 FT Score: 42-14
Referee: N Owens Attendance: 81,774
