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Ex-Leinster player seals dramatic Ulster win over former side

310 days ago

James Ryan, left, and Luke McGrath of Leinster after their side's defeat in the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Leinster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

John Cooney slotted over a last-gasp long-range penalty to earn Ulster a 23-21 win over Leinster and guarantee them a place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs.

Tries from Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale also contributed to a vital Ulster victory in what was a tense Irish derby, with Cooney kicking both conversions and two other penalties to go with his match-winning strike.

Leinster, who led for most of the game at Kingspan Stadium, took a losing bonus point and have assured themselves of a top-four finish a week before their European Champions Cup final clash with Toulouse.

Franco Smith on importance of each URC as Lions looms

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Franco Smith on importance of each URC as Lions looms

After dominating the opening exchanges and having Michael Lowry breach the Leinster line twice but not be awarded either effort, the hosts put a 13th-minute penalty to the corner.

From there, Ulster launched a maul and Herring touched down for a score that was awarded after referee Andrea Piardi had gone upstairs.

Leinster levelled things up in the 22nd minute after Billy Burns’ kick was charged down by Will Connors who then fed the supporting Charlie Ngatai who touched down. Harry Byrne converted, and the score stood at 7-7.

Fixture

United Rugby Championship

Ulster

23 - 21

Full-time

Leinster

All Stats and Data

Leinster then took the lead after 29 minutes, Hugo Keenan making a line break and throwing an inside pass to the supporting Cormac Foley who ran clear for the visitors’ second score, once again Byrne adding the straightforward two points.

Cooney slotted a 31st-minute penalty to cut the Leinster lead to 14-10, which is how the first half ended.

Three minutes after the restart Cooney landed his second penalty to cut Leinster’s lead a solitary point.

However, the visitors moved further clear again when, following a series of pick and jams on the line, Michael Ala’alatoa drove over on after minutes.

Byrne’s conversion left Leinster leading 21-13 but Ulster came back again to make it a one-point contest.

Jacob Stockdale intercepted a Byrne pass and raced nearly the length of the field, with Cooney adding a superb conversion and the hosts trailed 21-20 heading into the final 20 minutes.

It was set up for an epic finish and it fell to Cooney with three minutes remaining, his long-range penalty winning the game and ensuring Ulster a play-off place.

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Comments

1 Comment

Turlough 309 days ago

Excellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.

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Comments on RugbyPass

Poorfour 15 minutes ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

So “it wasn’t foul play because it wasn’t foul play” is - to you - not only an acceptable answer but the only possible answer?

I would hope that the definition of foul play is clear enough that they can say “that wasn’t foul play - even though it resulted in a serious injury - because although player A did not wrap with the right arm, he entered the ruck through the gate and from a legal angle at a legal height, and was supporting his own weight until player B entered the ruck behind him and pushed him onto player C’s leg” or “that wasn’t foul play although players D and E picked player F out of a ruck, tipped him upside down and dropped him on his shoulder because reasons.”

Referees sometimes offer a clear explanation, especially when in discussion with the TMO, but they don’t always, especially for incidents that aren’t reviewed on field. It’s also a recognised flaw in the bunker system that there isn’t an explanation of the card decisions - I’d personally prefer the bunker to prepare a short package of the best angles and play back to the ref their reasoning, with the ref having the final say, like an enhanced TMO. It would cost a few more seconds, but would help the crowd to understand.

Greater clarity carries with it risks - not least that if the subsequent feedback is at odds with the ref’s decision they run the risk of harassment on social media - but rugby is really struggling to show that it can manage these decisions consistently, and offering a clear explanation after the fact would help to ensure better consistency in officiating in future.

9 Go to comments

SH 54 minutes ago

How to solve a problem like Welsh rugby

I don’t even think the U20s are much of a crumb of comfort to be honest - they only really did what Welsh teams have done to plenty of highly fancied English teams before them and ambushed them in Cardiff with lots of PASHUN LADS etc. If you’d ask me which of the two teams will make a dent at the forthcoming JWC, it won’t be Wales. It also doesn’t seem to matter how talented Wales are at age grade, the players stagnate once they reach the regions, hence why Gatland was often keen on fast tracking youth.

11 Go to comments

YeowNotEven 1 hour ago

'There's a lot of rugby knowledge': David Havili's reasoning behind in-form backline

Man I would love Cullen Grace to kick on. When he first got picked I thought he was going to own a shirt and do what Wallace did.

Takes some players a bit longer to develop.

31 Go to comments

GP 1 hour ago

Former New Zealand flanker and coach Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie dies

Agree with you. Certain people you think they will be here forever . Also about the age comment. Correct. Like you would do you often think back to past events and realize that so much time has gone by. It will be 40 years in September since the Canterbury-Auckland “Match of the Century”.Incredible.Two of the main stays of that Canterbury team , Jock Hobbs , (2012) and his Brother in Law Bruce Deans , ( 2019), have passed away. Bruce Deans played every minute of the 27 games , including the winning match Wellington , (1982) and the losing Auckland , (1985) games. John Drake and Andy Haden who were both in the Auckland team have passed and Peter Fatialofa , who I think was on the bench.

3 Go to comments

YeowNotEven 1 hour ago

'There's a lot of rugby knowledge': David Havili's reasoning behind in-form backline

By the end of last season neither Telea or Reece were at their best.

At that point, when players look a yard behind the pace I reckon razor should give someone young and hungry and keen a crack at it.

31 Go to comments

Head high tackle 2 hours ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

I think the draw needs to be sorted out. Its horribably unfair. Either make it 10 rounds or 20 rounds.

16 Go to comments

Head high tackle 2 hours ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

Tupaea and Tavitavinawi against any other 12s. If she believes Canham is outperforming Barrett thats cool but what were the stats from the game they played each other? it was a 30 point thrashing from memory

16 Go to comments

Head high tackle 2 hours ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

But surely a players stats are better when they play weak opposition? Were Canhams stats better than Barrets when they played against each other caz from memory the Crusaders thrashed the Reds.

What is desperately needed is a fair and equal draw. The skewed draw skews all stats.

16 Go to comments

Head high tackle 2 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

A draft is unenforsible. Its a restraint of practice. NRL draft lasted a couple of years before a player from Manly didnt want to shift to where he was drafted to and that was across town. Forcing a player into a draft then making him shift to another country miles from his family wouldnt last the first draft. Imagine a young fella from a small town out of Dunedin being forced to move to Perth where he has no family whatsoever. I could see a court decision being asked for very quickly.

16 Go to comments

JH 2 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

MP are a NZ side through and through, NZ is even having to pay for it. It was only really set up to stop the constant whinging (when nothing was stopping a pi player playing for any side in Super Rugby) and as a front to whisper in the ears of NZ and Aussie born players of Pi heritage that they’ll never make the ABs or Wallabies, switch to Tonga and Samoa instead. It’s becoming the jump-ship/zero loyalty joke that international League is.

For some reason it’s ‘poaching’ when any other nations do it, but not when the ‘poor islands’ do it, and statistically, they’re right up there with Scotland and Japan in terms of poached players. Not one of these Kiwis and Aussies would go live in the Islands to satisfy any criteria, and I’d say most of them have hardly ever set foot in the islands, outside of a holiday.

They should make the rule that you either have to be born in a nation, or that you’ve spent two-thirds of your life there. That rule would be good for NZ. But then watch the usual sector complain how that unfairly penalizes their national side because they’d lose all their imports. Can’t win.

16 Go to comments

JH 2 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

So rules created to fill the Samoan and Tongan sides with Aussie and Kiwi born and developed players is what Taylah Johnson is saying. Well, those two ‘island’ sides are increasingly less so by the year, so mission accomplished there, and it ultimately doesn’t make them any more competitive.

Kyren Taumoefolau is a NZer. He’s come through all the NZR systems and he wants to play for the All Blacks, so what? The only people making an issue of this are the ones who are always keen to play the victim card. It’s okay for them to poach with rules that are openly designed for them to do so, but heaven forbid a Kiwi or Aussie wants to play for the nation of their birth. Good grief.

16 Go to comments

Rugby 101 - Ed Pye 3 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

Johnson’s point is that Aussie teams filled with Australians makes the wallabies strong, but the Aussies teams have had bit-time NZ players for ever and the Wallabies have been both good and bad, so the point has limited support. Mils didn't explain it very well but a drafted comp would even out the competition which would allow Australian teams to win more which I believe would do more for the wallabies than having Aussie players in Aussie teams.

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lK 3 hours ago

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CO 3 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

Australian rugby has always been weak apart from the Eales era.

It's getting absolutely weakened having to share talent with the two other oval ball games of League and AFL. It gets kiwis over to fill out sides to plug holes.

The limitations with an equitable draft is NZ players aren't eligible to play for the Allblacks from offshore. However on both sides of the Tasman a draft system could be useful.

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DC 3 hours ago

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To Nic Dolly and ex England “star” is pushing it a bit. Ex England player would be more accurate.

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CO 3 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

He's a Kiwi, born and raised in NZ. I think he should need to go and permanently reside in Tonga and play their domestic comps with a five year stand down.

I don't see any benefit to NZ rugby with all these players representing the islands and other countries but actually living here and taking up spots in our professional NPC and super sides.

The Moana side seems to be being paid for by the NZ taxpayer, money that could be going into NZ rugby.

Rugby's hugely expensive to fund and NZ rugby needs to get back to number one to win back sponsors, it won't do so giving everyone else a lot of it's best players.

Fiji is a viable rugby nation with it's sides talent overwhelmingly coming from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa should have to do the same.

I fully understand this idea that NZ should support the islands but I'm not seeing the benefits for NZ just more player drain.

The real problem though is the top NZ talent being poached by England, Wales, France, Japan, Scotland, Ireland. That's genuinely disgraceful.

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olivia matt7777 3 hours ago

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JW 4 hours ago

Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

Of course he can represent New Zealand. He can play for any other team other than the All Blacks - like Fabian Holland did last year with the New Zealand XV - this year, and represent the ABs next year. That’s an entirely normal and expected position for any new talent to be in, regardless of having played for another country before.