Leinster 41

Ulster 17

Daire Walsh reports from the Aviva Stadium

DAN SHEEHAN GRABBED a second half hat-trick from the bench at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as Leinster moved nine points clear at the summit of the United Rugby Championship table with a commanding bonus point triumph over interprovincial rivals Ulster.

Introduced in the 47th minute, Sheehan produced an all-action display to ensure Leo Cullen’s men secured their 14th win from 15 in the URC with minimal fuss.

Ulster were forced into a late change just before kick-off in Irish Rugby HQ with Stewart Moore promoted from the replacements bench to take the place of Stuart McCloskey at inside centre – a change that also saw former Ireland U20s star Wilhelm De Klerk being added to the match day 23.

Despite the set-back of losing the experienced and influential McCloskey, the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession during the early stages in Ballsbridge.

Leinster hadn’t conceded a single point in European Champions Cup knockout clashes against Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors in the previous fortnight, but a successful penalty from fly-half Jack Murphy – son of head coach Richie Murphy – at least meant that Ulster wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

This was an encouraging start for Ulster, but there was to be a further blow on the injury front for the away team as Moore and Michael Lowry were forced off in the 16th and 21st minutes respectively. Whereas De Klerk was thrust into action to replace the former after initially expecting to just be a travelling reserve, former Leinster and Connacht scrum-half John Cooney indirectly deputised for the latter.

Ulster found themselves in arrears by the time Cooney entered the fray as the in-form Tommy O’Brien chipped the ball over the head of the retreating Nathan Doak just shy of the first-quarter mark before regathering possession to eventually dot down in fine style. Although Ciaran Frawley was off-target from the resulting conversion, the versatile Irish international supplied the extras to Thomas Clarkson’s powerful finish off an extended attacking move in the 28th minute.

This latest try left Leinster nine points to the good, only for Ulster to come roaring back into contention in a frantic end to the opening period.

From an attack that started with Doak superbly claiming his box kick, Cooney released Cormac Izuchukwu through a defensive gap with an elaborate pass and the towering lock proceeded to impressively burst over the Leinster try-line.

A routine bonus strike from Jack Murphy looked set to leave Ulster just two points adrift at the break, but Leinster ultimately brought a 19-10 cushion into the interval when referee Gianluca Gnecchi awarded them a 40th minute penalty try following consultation with TMO Stefano Penne.

Ulster received an additional set-back when No 8 David McCann was yellow carded for his role in this incident and as a consequence, it looked like a difficult second half was in store for the northern province.

A Leinster team within reach of a bonus point is always a dangerous proposition and their fourth try duly arrived when Garry Ringrose capitalised on excellent approach work from Jamie Osborne and Scott Penny to touch down in the right-corner on 42 minutes.

This put them in pole position to secure a maximum haul from this fixture, but the 51st minute sin-binning of Diarmuid Mangan did open the door for Ulster to forge a potential fightback.

Yet with the Irish international front-row of Andrew Porter, Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong being introduced off the bench along with RG Snyman, Leinster made light of their temporary numerical deficiency.

Sheehan came into this encounter with an astounding haul of nine tries in just eight appearances for province and country in 2025 and following a delicate kick to the right-flank by player of the match Tommy O’Brien, the hooker was left with a simple finish in the corner on 58 minutes.

The Dublin native’s return from an anterior cruciate ligament sustained on Ireland’s tour of South Africa last summer has been a huge plus for Leinster in recent months and he doubled his tally for the night inside the final-quarter via a pass from fellow international Sam Prendergast – who was introduced for Robbie Henshaw on 62 minutes.

Ulster finally disrupted this second period scoring blitz from Leinster with a converted try from replacement Matthew Dalton, but it seemed inevitable the hosts would finish the action on a high. Capitalising on some fine work in attack from Fintan Gunne, Sheehan raced over the line to complete his hat-trick in the 78th minute.

Leinster scorers:

Tries – Dan Sheehan 3, Tommy O’Brien, Thomas Clarkson, Garry Ringrose, Penalty Try

Conversions – Ciaran Frawley [1/4], Sam Prendergast [1/2]

Ulster scorers:

Tries – Cormac Izuchukwu

Conversions – Jack Murphy [1/1]

Penalties – Jack Murphy [1/1]

LEINSTER: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien (Liam Turner ’62), Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Sam Prendergast ’62), Jimmy O’Brien, Ciaran Frawley, Luke McGrath (Fintan Gunne ’59); Jack Boyle (Andrew Porter ’47), Gus McCarthy (Dan Sheehan ’47), Thomas Clarkson (Tadhg Furlong ’47); Joe McCarthy (RG Snyman ’53 (Max Deegan ’71)), Diarmuid Mangan; Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, James Culhane.

ULSTER: Michael Lowry (John Cooney ’21); Zac Ward, Jude Postlethwaite, Stewart Moore (Wilhelm De Klerk ’16), Jacob Stockdale; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick (Callum Reid ’39 (Tom O’Toole ‘62)), Rob Herring (Tom Stewart ‘40), Tom O’Toole (Scott Wilson ’57); Alan O’Connor (Kieran Treadwell ’47), Cormac Izuchukwu (Matthew Dalton ’48); James McNabney (Matty Rea ’61), Nick Timoney, David McCann.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR).

URC: Leinster 41 Ulster 17 

Dan Sheehan grabbed a second half hat-trick from the bench at the Aviva Stadium this evening as Leinster moved nine points clear at the summit of the United Rugby Championship table with a commanding bonus point triumph over interprovincial rivals Ulster.

WHILE LEINSTER HAVE a United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster to contend with in the Aviva Stadium this evening (kick-off 7.35pm), the build-up to the game has been dominated by a couple of intriguing news items relating to the province.

On Wednesday, it was revealed New Zealand international Rieko Ioane is set to exercise an option to play abroad and will join Leinster on a seven-month deal following the completion of the All Blacks’ November programme.

Capped 81 times in the international test arena, current Blues star Ioane will essentially serve as a replacement for his international team-mate Jordie Barrett – who is currently part of the Leinster squad under a similar arrangement. Speaking yesterday for the first time since the signing of Ioane was confirmed, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen explained how he feels the Auckland native will (like Barrett before him) add value off the pitch for the province as well as on it.

“That’s what you want. There’s the IP piece, where they get embedded in the group and everyone takes a little bit from it. The clever players are very clever in taking stuff from other players who have been around a long time or someone they’ve just been introduced to,” Cullen said at a pre-match press conference for tonight’s game.

“We want to make sure that we expose the players to as much as we can, to make them a world-class player for Leinster. If they’re a world-class player for Leinster, then they’re probably going to get picked for Ireland as well. So we need to do everything we can to make that happen.

“Caspar Gabriel [Academy player] is out of school and was away in South Africa [for Leinster’s recent games against the Bulls and the Sharks] and having regular conversations with Jordie. That’s outside of coaching. Players will generally listen to players. Coaches are parents or teachers versus that peer-to-peer thing, which can be more powerful. Particularly with someone they respect from the top-end of the game.”

Expanding on the same general theme, Cullen outlined what the presence of players like Barrett and Ioane in the Leinster colours can do for young supporters within the province, and how he doesn’t understand those who view the signing of top-range overseas talent in a negative light.

“When we have Jordie Barrett up in Dundalk or over in St Mary’s, the kids… they’re so drawn to that. So you want that aspirational piece to get to that level, to see someone from the top end. Playing in the World Cup final basically.

“So to get a player who has played at the top end, that’s what you call a marquee player. There is value in that, we all agree? Sometimes people don’t see value. They only want to talk about it in a negative context. I don’t understand the negative context to it.”

In addition to discourse on the signing of Ioane, much has also been made of the IRFU’s announcement on Tuesday that – from August 2026 onwards – provinces will be responsible for 40% of the cost of national player contracts. This represents an increase from the previously set contribution of 30%, which had only been introduced by the union in 2024.

Given 11 of the 14 Ireland players that will be on central contracts from the start of next season are from Leinster, this new deal is set to see the province spending a lot more money on players’ salaries.

Yet despite acknowledging this alteration in the funding model could have an effect in the long run – the IRFU intends to invest funds generated by this change in the player pathways of Connacht, Munster and Ulster – Cullen insisted not a huge amount will change from the perspective of him and his fellow coaches.

“The remit doesn’t change for us as coaches. Again, what do we want to do? We want to expose the players to the best we can get them. That comes under budgetary constraints, whatever. Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is less funds to work with, we’ll just get on with it. That’s the way we look at it,” Cullen added.

“That’s why we’ll always harp on the importance of our support base at Leinster, because we need people to come through the turnstiles. They provide revenue for the team and the club to be able to invest as much as we can. Because there is no wealthy benefactor in Leinster, contrary to what the beliefs are maybe outside. We have what we have.

“Sponsors and fans are producing the majority of the revenue. Then there is the relationship with the union, it’s the way the system works. It’s complex relationships in all the different departments, but we try to make it work as best as we can. Of course there is going to be a disagreement here and there because we have a slightly different agenda, but generally it works well doesn’t it?”

Daire Walsh

There might be five places and 25 points separating them in the United Rugby Championship table ahead of their meeting at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow evening (kick-off 7.35pm), but history has told Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber not to expect anything easy from interprovincial rivals Ulster.

While the defence specialist enjoyed two wins over Ulster during the one full season (2016/17) he was part of the Munster coaching team alongside his fellow South African Rassie Erasmus, they had to fight tooth and nail for victory in both of those fixtures.

HE HAS HAD his fair share of frustration with injuries in the recent past, but Leinster’s Tommy O’Brien is now ‘feeling in a really good spot’ after finally making his first European start in the Aviva Stadium last Friday.

After previously making four appearances off the bench for the province in the competition, Dublin native O’Brien was given the nod on the right-wing when Glasgow Warriors paid a visit to Lansdowne Road six days ago for a European Champions Cup quarter-final.

Had it not been for a number of significant spells on the sideline – he has suffered injuries to his knee, ankle and hamstring within the last three years – a starting opportunity in the Champions Cup might have come his way a lot sooner. Yet four consecutive outings in the United Rugby Championship helped to put O’Brien in the frame for selection and he marked the occasion by bagging a first half try in a convincing 52-0 win over Glasgow.

“I am feeling in a really good spot. I have five or six games on the bounce and I think your body just adjusts to rugby. Your first one [back] you are always unbelievably sore and your body is like, ‘What the hell are you doing to me?’ That’s probably when you are most likely to pick up little injuries, in the first few games or training sessions back,” O’Brien acknowledged at a Leinster media briefing earlier this week.

“My body is getting battle hardened and it’s just a knowledge within myself of knowing when I can push it and really open up, and when I feel a bit stiff and sore and need to box smarter.”

Although he didn’t graduate from the Leinster Academy until the summer of 2020 – alongside current Ireland internationals Dan Sheehan and Ryan Baird – O’Brien made his senior debut for the province at outside centre in a relentless 54-42 victory over Ulster at the RDS in the Pro14 back on 20 December, 2019.

The former Blackrock College student is set to face the same interprovincial opposition in the Aviva this Saturday in the United Rugby Championship. While Leinster didn’t concede a single point in either of their last two games – knockout European clashes with Harlequins and Glasgow – the Blues’ defence could be tested by an Ulster side that have amassed a combined tally of 133 points across their last four competitive games.

This included a 31-point haul in a Champions Cup Round of 16 defeat away to Bordeaux-Begles last Sunday week and O’Brien is expecting the resolve of Leinster – who are currently eight points clear at the URC summit – to be severely tested at Irish Rugby HQ.

“I feel like they have turned a corner in the last few weeks, when they had a great comeback win against the Stormers. They went very well against Bordeaux, scored some great tries,” O’Brien added.

“They have a good few guys who have just come back from injury, especially in the backline. So their backs are humming again. They look like they are enjoying their rugby again and it will be a big test.”

After injuring his hamstring in the act of scoring a try away to Edinburgh in the opening round of this season’s URC, O’Brien was ultimately ruled out of the Emerging Ireland Tour of South Africa last October.

Simon Easterby was at the helm for that three-game visit to the southern hemisphere and the former Scarlets flanker subsequently called the 26-year-old into the Ireland senior squad in the build-up to their round four showdown with France in this year’s Six Nations.

Although it didn’t lead to a Test debut for O’Brien, he got a sense of what life is like in an Ireland camp in the middle of a Championship campaign. He had also featured for Ireland ‘A’ in an international duel with England ‘A’ at Ashton Gate in Bristol on 23 February and will now be hoping that a strong end to the season with Leinster can help him to seal a spot in the Irish travelling party for summer internationals against Georgia and Portugal in July.

“Any rugby player growing up always dreams of playing for Ireland, so that’s definitely an ambition of mine. I would have set out at the start of the year. I would have been frustrated at missing that Emerging Ireland tour at the start of the year because of injury,” O’Brien added.

“Managed to play a few games recently and got called into camp. Got my first taste of it during the Six Nations. I would love to play in the summer, but the way you do that is playing and impressing for Leinster. The opportunity of getting to some finals and going well is the stuff you dream of.”

Daire Walsh

He has had his fair share of frustration with injuries in the recent past, but Leinster’s Tommy O’Brien is now ‘feeling in a really good spot’ after finally making his first European start in the Aviva Stadium last Friday.

After previously making four appearances off the bench for the province in the competition, Dublin native O’Brien was given the nod on the right-wing when Glasgow Warriors paid a visit to Lansdowne Road six days ago for a European Champions Cup quarter-final.