Leinster stage fightback after Werner Kok show
FRIDAY WRAP: Leinster staged a second-half fightback to claim a bonus-point 24-20 victory over Ulster at the Aviva Stadium.
The visitors had the better of the opening half and led 17-7 at the break, but Leinster hit back to close to within one point of their opponents in the table.
Wing Werner Kok was the key man for Ulster early on, crossing for his first try in the 14th minute and then scoring another 20 minutes later after an interception.
Rieko Ioane had got Leinster on the board with a try in between, but Tom Stewart added a third for Ulster two minutes before half-time.
The fightback began with a try for Josh Kenny in the 54th minute and, despite a yellow card for lock James Ryan, James Lowe crossed for Leinster’s third try.
Nathan Doak’s penalty meant Ulster still led by three points, but David McCann was shown a yellow card in the 71st minute for a deliberate knock-on, and Leinster took advantage, with Dan Sheehan grabbing the winning try.
*Meanwhile, Gareth Davies scored two tries to earn Scarlets a 21-17 victory over Cardiff.
Scarlets had three players sin-binned but held on to claim only their second league victory this season.
Eddie James crossed to give Scarlets the lead in the 23rd minute, with Joe Hawkins adding the conversion.
But Cardiff soon hit back to level through a try from Mason Grady after both Josh Macleod and Davies had been shown yellow cards.
Callum Sheedy nudged Cardiff ahead with a penalty just before the break, but Davies crossed twice either side of a second try for the home side for Josh Adams.
Johnny Williams became the third Scarlets player to be yellow-carded with an hour gone, but high-flying Cardiff could not find a response.
See below for Friday’s scores and scorers!
Cardiff 17-21 Scarlets
The scorers:
For Cardiff:
Tries: Grady, Adams
Cons: Sheedy 2
Pen: Sheedy
For Scarlets:
Tries: James, G Davies 2
Cons: Hawkins 3
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 James Botham, 5 George Nott, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Danny Southworth.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Alex Mann, 21 Taulupe Faletau, 22 Johan Mulder, 23 Jacob Beetham.
Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Eddie James, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi,3 Archer Holz,2 Ryan Elias,1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Alec Heburn, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jarrod Taylor, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Elis Price, 23 Joe Roberts.
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales) & Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
Leinster 24-20 Ulster
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Ioane, Kenny, Lowe, Sheehan
Cons: Prendergast, Byrne
For Ulster:
Tries: Kok 2, Stewart
Con: Doak
Pen: Doak
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Joshua Kenny, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan (captain), 7 Scott Penny, 6 Alex Soroka, 5 James Ryan, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Ruben Moloney.
Ulster: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nick Timoney (captain), 6 David McCann, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Ethan McIlroy.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Fogarty (Ireland) & Tomás O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
