Ulster beat Leinster 10-7 in pre-season friendly
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Jared Payne was Ulster's try-scorer as his side beat Irish inter-provincial rivals Leinster 10-7 in a pre-season friendly at the Tallaght Stadium.
Payne touched down in the corner after just two minutes, with fly-half Ian Humphreys adding the difficult conversion from the touchline.
Humphreys added a penalty to make the score 10-0 at half-time.
Hooker Bryan Byrne scored a 47th-minute try, which Ian Madigan converted, but Leinster could not add to their tally.
Payne's try came after Louis Ludik attacked the Leinster line but lost his footing just short of the line.
The ball was recycled quickly, it was passed out the line and Payne touched down in the corner to give his side the perfect start.
Leinster had a chance to get on the scoresheet on 15 minutes but Jimmy Gopperth's penalty sailed wide of the posts.
Ulster were making life difficult for Leinster and the returning Stuart Olding made a series of powerful tackles in midfield.
The visitors extended their lead on the half hour when scrum-half Paul Marshall put up an excellent box kick, Craig Gilroy made a superb tackle and openside Sean Reidy followed up to win the penalty.
Humphreys made no mistake with the kick to put 10 points between the sides.
Payne then cut through the Leinster defence, passed to Olding and the ball was recycled to Humphreys whose cross-field kick was almost gathered by Michael Allen with the try line at his mercy.
There were three changes for Ulster at half-time. Nick Williams came on at number eight for Roger Wilson, Ricky Andrew replaced Ludik at full-back and Ruaidhri Murphy replaced Andrew Warwick at loose-head.
Leinster started the second half in the same fashion in which Ulster began the first, taking a quick free kick, and passing it out for Byrne to score.
Fergus McFadden almost got a second try for the hosts - he made a superb run on 57 minutes, cutting through the Ulster defence but a good tackle from Gilroy saved the visitors.
Late in the half Marshall made an excellent break, Gilroy supported him but there was no-one there to finish it off. The ball was turned over and Leinster were awarded the penalty.
Both sides emptied their benches as the half wore on and Leinster pushed for the win in the final minutes but Ulster held on to claim a well earned inter-provincial victory.
Leinster: Z Kirchner, F McFadden, B Macken, N Reid, D Fanning, J Gopperth, L McGrath, C Healy, B Byrne, M Ross, K McLaughlin, M McCarthy, J Conan, S Jennings, S O'Brien (capt).
Ulster: L Ludik, M Allen, J Payne, S Olding, C Gilroy, I Humphreys, P Marshall; A Warwick, R Herring, W Herbst, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, R Diack, S Reidy, R Wilson (capt).
Replacements: R Murphy, J Andrew, D Fitzpatrick, A O'Connor, N McComb, C Joyce, C Ross, N Williams, C Black, K McCall, B Ross, L Stevenson, M MCComish, M Heaney, D Shanahan, S O'Hagan, R Adair, J Stockdale, R Scholes, R Andrew.
