Leinster win a tight one at the RDS, but the real story may be the knocks received by some big names
In the end, it was a wee moment of magic by Ian Madigan that won the game. Just after the start of the second half, and with Ulster down to 14 after a Dan Tuohy yellow card just before the break, Madigan took a quick tap and go penalty near the Ulster try line and before any Ulster defenders could react, Madigan squeezed over.
Once converted, the score was 16-6 to the home side and they never let their grasp on the points slip at the RDS. Ulster were game, and fought back well with a try of their own by Wiehahn Herbst when they returned to XV players but they could never narrow the gap, eventually going down 24-11 thanks to a late Jack Conan try.
The bigger storyline is probably the exit through injury of the man who simply never gets injured, Jamie Heaslip. The Leinster man went down clutching his right shoulder midway through the first half and you have to imagine it is bad if Heaslip had to leave the fray.
In further bad news for Ireland, Tommy Bowe also exited early, as a head injury he took in the opening exchanges eventually forced him off with 49 minutes gone.
It looked bad but hopefully there is no long-term damage to the winger and Joe Schmidt and every Irish rugby fan will certainly be hoping the same.
Update: Possibly good news on the Heaslip front
Matt O'Connor when interviewed on @SkySportsRugby feels that Jamie Heaslip injury is not serious, bang on A/C joint #LeinsterRugby #LEINvULS
— Dermot O'Mahony (@Dermotom) January 3, 2015
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