The Irish Independent's Brendan Fanning reports from Leinster's Magners League victory over title rivals Ulster.
"Shortly before kick-off in the RDS last night, a man who knows Ulster fairly well was suggesting that how his side reacted to their defeat by Northampton last weekend would tell us if they had what it takes to be real contenders. He didn't sound confident.
"Europe was done and dusted, but staying on course for the closing stages of the Magners was a hugely important test of their character. Well, after 13 minutes in front of a 17,670 crowd and on a lovely night for rugby, the second half against the Saints seemed a long way off, and the immediate test was to stay on the coat tails of a Leinster team that had raced into a 3-0 lead on tries.
"It was the sort of blitz we have become accustomed to from Joe Schmidt's side: everything was done with pace and aggression, and when the right level of accuracy is part of the mix it's unstoppable. To their credit, Ulster edged their way back into the game through the boot of Ian Humphreys, and were 17-9 behind coming to the half-hour mark."
RSS feed
