URC: Leinster 47 Bulls 14 (FT) - as it happened

Leinster 47 Bulls 14 (FT)

We leave you tonight with Johnny Watterson’s match report from the RDS.

[ Leinster run riot with strong second half display to power past Bulls ]

Full-time: Leinster 47 Bulls 14

This time the game is well and truly over. Sheehan gets in over the ball and Leinster tap and kick the ball off the park.

What a second half performance that was. In a very bomb-squad esque move, Cullen/Nienaber nearly emptied all of the forwards on their bench five minutes after half-time and Leinster never looked back. Conan was excellent in the carry, Osborne continues to be a passing, carrying, running all-round threat, Larmour had a welcome return to form getting on the ball more at fullback, while Russell probably showed one of his better displays in his young Leinster career.

The Bulls’ set piece dominance caused plenty of problems in the first half but in the second, Leinster didn’t give them any set pieces from which to do damage.

A positive return for the bulk of the internationals ahead of next week’s Champions Cup last 16 tie with Leicester. The one concern will be Robbie Henshaw who went off for a HIA.

Hang on, it was supposed to be full-time after Leinster kicked the ball off, but we’re continuing for some reason. Byrne ran the ball out the back of the dead ball line, so maybe that’s it? Is he allowed to do that? Presumably not because the Bulls have a 5m scrum.

80 mins: Well this game hasn’t been short of drama and we’ll have one more piece of intrigue before the end. Craig Evans looks to have injured his calf, meaning for the final 40 seconds, linesman Chris Busby will be our referee.

Jack Conan has been announced as man of the match. Fair enough, he’s been barnstorming in this second half.

TRY LIAM TURNER

Salt into the wound for the Bulls. Leinster’s identification of space has been top notch all night. Turner spots that the Bulls are narrow in defence, so he throws the ball wider than the last defender. Russell is there, bursting onto it in space before feeding it back inside for Turner to beat le Roux, who looks to have completely given up the ghost.

Ross Byrne adds the straightforward conversion.

Leinster 47 Bulls 14

Hang on! The TMO has intervened after the conversion. What are we checking?

Potential foul play on Arendse. He tried to kick through a loose ball but was beaten to it by Byrne. In trying to kick it, he looks to have kicked the replacement outhalf in the back of the head.

NO TRY! Arendse’s stray boot in the build-up to his own score costs him. No card, though.

Leinster 40 Bulls 14

TRY KURT-LEE ARENDSE

The Springbok wing has a double! Out of nowhere, the Bulls get a consolation. It ends up being partly a good defensive read, partly good fortune. He flies up out of the line down the short side, but he isn’t watching Gibson-Park so he can’t say he was eyeing up the pass. It ends up hitting his arm which cushions it nicely, allowing him to regather and sprint off. Chris Smith converts.

Leinster 40 Bulls 21

TRY JACK CONAN

They’re cruising now. Russell wins a high ball after Arendse spilled, and from there Leinster just hammer away. Byrne hits Conan with a wide-ish pass, the defender picked the wrong runner to bite in on and Conan is able to hit the gap and power past le Roux at fullback for the score.

Ross Byrne converts.

Leinster 40 Bulls 14

67 mins: The Bulls may have imploded defensively, but their set piece remains excellent. They pinch another Leinster lineout.

TRY DAN SHEEHAN

Michael Milne has touched the ball twice and he now has one try and one assist. That pass was a beauty, running onto the ball down the short side before hitting Sheehan in stride to score in the corner. Talk about impact.

Ross Byrne lines up his first kick of the night...and he’s good from the touchline.

Leinster 33 Bulls 14

62 mins: Oh dear. Williams returns from a HIA and his first involvement back is to spill a high ball. Leinster scrum inside the Bulls 22.

59 mins: This game is end to end and it’s turning into a bit of a cracker. This time off the Furlong spill, the Bulls break from deep with a chip and chase. Byrne ultimately does well to scrag someone to ground amidst the constant offloading, but Jenkins strays offside. Back to the corner Goosen goes.

Penalty Leinster! The home defence is good, swarming around carriers before Sheehan gets in over the ball to win the penalty.

58 mins: Leinster survive! They pilfer the lineout and kick ahead. Le Roux clears but its poor and Leinster can run it back. Osborne with a good carry into the 22 only for Furlong to spill when he thought the man in front of him was the target of the pass.

57 mins: CHANCE! Bizarre sequence of play. Le Roux is charged down but because McCarthy kicks it forward, none of the Leinster players marginally in front of him can play the ball with the line at their mercy. The Bulls cash in, Arendse scooping the ball and breaking. Their offloading this time is sensational, curtailed only by a Ross Byrne high tackle. The Bulls go to the corner with the penalty.

54 mins: The Bulls survive. Leinster’s maul goes nowhere, they get counter rucked shortly after and then give away a penalty for going in the side.

The Bulls get another penalty off the following lineout maul, Leinster taking it to ground illegally.

52 mins: Leinster nearly score another worldy. Gibson-Park beats the rush of Moodie beautifully with some delicate handling, opening up space for Russell. Turner gathers his chip into the 22 but Gibson-Park wasn’t expecting his offload from the deck and duly knocks on.

Penalty Leinster! The Bulls collapse the scrum and Leinster get the ball straight back. Byrne goes to the corner once more.

52 mins: No bueno for the Bulls. They pilfer the ball at a poor Leinster lineout but Vorster, with his first touch since coming on, kicks the ball over the Leinster dead-ball line. Scrum Leinster back up over halfway.

TRY MICHAEL MILNE! Wow, just wow. That’s better than the first half stunner. Where to even begin? Running back from pretty much the kick-off, Leinster are away through Osborne who finds space. From there, it’s all offloading. Russell to Gibson-Park, back to Larmour who tries to step Arendse for the score. He should have passed, he’s taken down, but Leinster recycle and Milne, only just off the bench, crashes over. Byrne converts again.

Leinster 26 Bulls 14

TRY JAMES LOWE

Wow, Leinster have this phenomenal ability to be average for extended periods only to suddenly turn it on and look scintillating. This time, with no scrumhalf, their attack looks listless as phase after phase the Bulls bash them back. Larmour, to be fair to him, filling in at 9 snipes brilliantly to build momentum.

However, it disappears again, only for Joe McCarthy to pick and throw an outrageous one-handed offload to send Lowe in, with a customary acrobatic finish in the corner. Byrne converts from out wide.

Leinster 19 Bulls 14

42 mins: It’s messy ball at the back of a maul that’s going nowhere. However, Bulls dive off their feet and give away another penalty. Back to the corner goes Byrne.

41 mins: Teams are back out and we’re good to go. Interesting to keep an eye out on if McGrath comes back after his yellow card/HIA. Leinster kick off the second half through Harry Byrne. Leinster get an early penalty as the Bulls stray offside when trying to kick clear. Once again, Byrne goes to the corner instead of calling for the tee.

Here’s the van der Flier score. Feast your eyes.

Annoyingly, there isn’t any social media footage yet of that first van der Flier try for you all to luxuriate over. Anyway, here’s the Kelleher maul try that has Leinster in touch at the break.

Half-time: Leinster 12 Bulls 14

Goosen makes no mistake off the tee from straight in front of the posts.

An intriguing half. Leinster haven’t been allowed to build into their attacking fluidity at all, Nienaber’s side coming unstuck at times against a South African blitz. However, when it has come off, it’s been fantastic, no less than for that van der Flier try.

The Bulls have had all their attacking success from scrum penalties and high balls to manufacture more scrums. That said, one mistake on kick chase from Leinster gifted Arendse his try. Scoreline is probably a fair reflection of the contest so far. Leinster can’t be as sluggish after the break.

39 mins: That’s excellent defence. Under pressure in their own 22, Conan and Lowe counter ruck to win the ball back as Leinster clear. They badly needed that.

Kelleher undoes the good work, somewhat. He can’t help go for the ball at a breakdown and ends up playing the 9. This will be an easy three for Goosen.

37 mins: Momentum definitely with the BUlls now. Leinster just need to get to half-time, Coetzee gets in over the ball at the breakdown and wins a penalty. Goosen thinks about another shot from distance, but opts for the corner.

YELLOW CARD! McGrath is lucky, very lucky. That looked to be head-on-head but Evans says it’s yellow, not red. McGrath has gone off for a HIA regardless, it just means that Gibson-Park cannot come on to replace him for the time being.

TRY KURT-LEE ARENDSE

It’s poor defence from Leinster. Conan misses a tackle on kick chase and Goosen skips through. Arendse has bags of pace on the outside so when the ball comes to him in space, Leinster have no hope of covering. McGrath tries to make a late hit but ends up nearly knocking out both himself and Arendse. Goosen misses the conversion but before the restart, we are going to check that McGrath hit with the TMO.

Leinster 12 Bulls 11

32 mins: Leinster try to break from deep as Osborne links up with Lowe. He doesn’t have the gas to get by Arsendse, so he tries to chip ahead. He slices it and sends the ball straight into touch.

TRY LEINSTER!

It was a slow rumble at the maul, set up by Molony taking the lineout. But it’s Kelleher who comes up with the ball after the wall of blue shirts collapses over the line. It took referee Evans a while to dig around underneath the bodies to find the ball, but he’s given the try. Byrne lines up the wide conversion and pushes it out to the right.

Leinster 12 Bulls 6

27 mins: CLOSE! Kriel was nearly away there after the blitz defence nearly picked off a sluggish Henshaw pass. As it happens, Osborne managed to get a hand to him and force him to spill. Leinster get away with one.

Penalty Leinster! Osborne makes another half-break, this time put through a whole by a lovely Byrne delayed pass, and Bulls infringe at the breakdown. Wow, Leinster turn down the points in favour of the corner.

25 mins: Leinster nearly bust through on first phase after a lovely inside ball from Osborne to Lowe. Byrne sees space in behind and executes a lovely touch-finder to pin the Bulls inside their own 22.

22 mins: To the high ball the Bulls go. Goosen sends it up, Larmour tries to gather but he knocks on under pressure. Scrum for the Bulls close to the Leinster 22.

A huge roar goes up as Ala’alatoa this time wins a scrum penalty. Steenekamp was forced to drop the scrum. Byrne kicks play up beyond the Bulls 10m line.

21 mins: More consternation in the crowd as a replay of a supposed high tackle is shown on the big screen. Don’t think the officials are checking as the players take a breather for injury treatment. It’s van Staden who is limping around, seeing if he can continue... he can’t. First change of the evening as Mpilo Gumede is on.

TRY VAN DER FLIER

Leinster have been woeful so far but that is arguably the try of the season. Off a kick return, they ignite into life. Russell offloads from the floor. Conan scoops it up beautifully and passes in one motion, from there they’re away. Larmour bursts up the middle, stepping past two defenders.

He finds Osborne, who is hit as soon as he gets the ball but he still manages to get a gorgeous offload away to van der Flier who scores under the posts. Wow.

Leinster 7 Bulls 6

18 mins: Wow. The Bulls really are bullying Leinster. They try to go down the short side to Russell but he is swallowed up and unceremoniously dumped into touch.

16 mins: An ironic cheer goes up around the RDS as the crowd feel like they finally get a decision. They were crying out for offside every phase there. They’re wrong. The issue isn’t the Bulls rushing offside, it’s McGrath at scrumhalf. On a handful of phases, he takes steps before passing, allowing the line extra time to come up.

Anyway, a knock-on gives Leinster a scrum close to the 22.

13 mins: It’s getting tetchy! Leinster make a good hit on Coetzee off the lineout but Healy gives away a penalty for playing the ball in the ruck. He looked just to be trying to get up and his arm ripped it away, or he was being cute and didn’t get away with it. Either way, the crowd are incensed. Goosen lines up another effort from halfway. It’s good! The Bulls have a clear gameplan, kick penalties from everywhere, and it’s working!

Leinster 0 Bulls 6

12 mins: First sign of life in attack from Leinster. Larmour shows off his footwork to beat one man and offload just shy of the 22. It gets the crowd on their feet, but Lowe can’t hold onto the pass.

Leinster give up a third consecutive scrum penalty at the set piece. Ala’alatoa drops to a knee and Kelleher gets a talking-to for backchat.

11 mins: Surprisingly, given they have opted to kick both times they’ve been in possession, the Bulls try to run the ball out of their 22/ It doesn’t work, Williams’ offload from the floor drifting into touch. Leinster make a mess of the lineout, though. Trying to go over the top to Osborne at 12, van der Merwe reads it and gets there first.

7 mins: Leinster have problems at the scrum. This time Ala’alatoa is forced to pop up and give away the penalty. Advantage Bulls at the set-piece. Goosen is going to have a long range shot at goal.

He’s got it! A lovely strike from a central position on halfway. First blood to the visitors.

6 mins: Osborne slips as he carries and the late drop in height nearly sees him decapitated by an onrushing defender. Mercifully for all involved, he doesn’t make contact. Leinster fans scream for an offside but no decision comes, their frustration compounded moments later when Byrne’s wide pass drifts forward.

5 mins: Decent pressure from the Bulls forces Leinster back inside their own 22. However, the rush defence forces a poor kick which Larmour easily gathers. He hacks downfield and at the following ruck, Healy counter-rucks and hoofs the loose ball on.

3 mins: After a number of resets, Leinster get a shove on at tighthead. However, Healy loses his footing, brings down the scrum and gives away a penalty. Goosen kicks into the 22.

1 min: We are underway! Johan Goosen goes short with the kick-off and Joe McCarthy takes well under pressure. Leinster work a kick clearance through Harry Byrne, albeit the pass to him from McGrath was not sympathetic.

Early scrum coming up. Russell spills a high ball after the Bulls kick at the first opportunity. van der Flier gets a legal jackal, but advantage had not elapsed.

Right then, here come the teams. Bulls are playing in all white, Leinster in their customary blue. Craig Evans from Wales is tonight’s referee.

Pre-match music at the RDS? Grace, I think it was the Dubliners version. Is D4 the right crowd for rebel songs?

Followed up by Mike McCarthy warming up the crowd: “Leo the Lion does not eat chocolate, he only eats meat!” It is Easter weekend I supposed.

Among all of this, Ireland shines as a beacon of stability. Financially conservative, with stewardship over all four provincial teams, the IRFU has invested in providing their intellectual property into schools, juniors and academies. Without spending vast amounts of money, they have created a system that produces players capable of entering the professional ranks.

—  Matt Williams

For some pre-match reading, Matt Williams’ column went up today. He’s full of praise for the Irish school system. More than a few products of that system are on show for Leinster tonight.

[ Matt Williams: The IRFU invested in providing rugby in schools. They have succeeded while others have failed ]

A valid question is whether a South African coach will lift the URC trophy at the end of the season. With the Bulls’ arrival to the RDS on Friday night, coach Jake White and Leinster’s Jacques Nienaber would be candidates to do just that.

Both World Cup-winning coaches, White was head of the Springboks when they won the World Cup in 2007 and Nienaber is decorated with winners’ medals from the last two tournaments.

—  Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is our man doing the reporting at the RDS tonight. He previews the action in the below story, pointing out to the intriguing meeting of World Cup-winning minds on the opposite coaching benches. Both South African, both winners of William Web Ellis, both with designs on the URC trophy at the end of this season.

Read more here.

[ Bulls ready to throw down gauntlet to Leinster ]

As for the Bulls, they have plenty of Springbok World Cup-winners in their midst. Willie le Roux and Kurt-Lee Arendse are both in the backthree. Canan Moodie, arguably the brightest young talent in South Africa, is at 13. Up front, Marco van Staden starts in the backrow alongside a familiar face in former Ulsterman Marcell Coetzee. Ruan Nortje and Ruan Vermaak form a particularly strong-looking secondrow duo.

Leinster won on their travels to Zebre last time out as the URC returned from a mini Six Nations break. The Bulls beat the Dragons in Rodney Parade last week. They have history in this ground and in this competition, famously beating Leinster in the knock-out stages in the 2022 semi-final of this competition in what was a significant upset at the time.

Faced with the task of taking on a hefty South African outfit, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has recalled plenty of his internationals for this one. In the forwards, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier and Ryan Baird all return to the backrow. In front of them are Joe McCarthy and Ross Molony at lock, while Cian Healy, Rónan Kelleher and Michael Ala’alatoa form the frontrow trio.

In an intriguing move, Harry Byrne starts at 10 in favour of his brother, Ross, who is on the bench. Luke McGrath partners him in the halfbacks and captains the side. Jamie Osborne gets another chance to impress at 12 with Robbie Henshaw outside him, while Jordan Larmour, Rob Russell and James Lowe form the backthree.

Good evening all and welcome to Friday night URC action. It’s first vs second in the table at a near sold-out RDS, Leinster welcoming the Bulls to Dublin. My name is Nathan Johns and I’ll be guiding you through all the action as it happens ahead of tonight’s 7.35pm kick-off.