As expected Leinster retained their PRO14 title with an unbeaten season after an impressive 27-5 win over Ulster in the final at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
This victory also completed an impressive title hat-trick for Leinster. Saturday next week Leinster will be out to revenge their May 2019 defeat against Saracens in the European final when they play in the Champions Cup quarter-final.
Leinster’s swarming defence kept Ulster from gaining meaningful metres during the match and proved to be the major contributor to their title defence.
Henshaw’s 45th-minute intercept try and a closing score from Doris were the highlights as Leinster claimed their fifth PRO14 title in eight years, taking their overall record haul to seven league crowns.
Leinster's lineouts woes and some sloppy penalties conceded, gave Ulster a lot of front-foot ball in the first half. Surprisingly Ulster did not use that to keep the score-board busy and trailed 10-5 at half time.
Leinster began the second half with a boom and stretched their lead to 20-5 after just 5 minutes of play in the second half. Leinster scored the match-clinching try with 9 minutes left on the clock.
Scorers:
Leinster: Tries: Lowe, Henshaw, Doris. Conversions: Byrne (2), Sexton. Penalties: Byrne (2).
Ulster: Try: Hume.
Teams: Leinster: 15. Jordan Larmour, 14. Hugo Keenan, 13. Garry Ringrose (captain), 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Ross Byrne, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 8. Jack Conan, 7. Josh van der Flier, 6. Caelan Doris, 5. James Ryan, 4. Devin Toner, 3. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 1. Cian Healy. Replacements: 16. James Tracy, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Michael Bent, 19. Scott Fardy, 20. Will Connors, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Johnny Sexton, 23. Rory O’Loughin.
Ulster: 15. Michael Lowry, 14. Rob Lyttle, 13. James Hume, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Billy Burns, 9. Alby Mathewson, 8. Marcell Coetzee, 7. Sean Reidy, 6. Matthew Rea, 5. Iain Henderson (captain), 4. Alan O’Connor, 3. Tom O’Toole, 2. Rob Herring, 1. Eric O’Sullivan. Replacements: 16. John Andrew, 17. Jack McGrath, 18. Marty Moore, 19. Sam Carter, 20. Jordi Murphy, 21. John