Magners League/Leinster 29 Ulster 0:The suggestion that Matt Williams is soon to be appointed as Ulster coach will represent a shard of light at a time when the province is struggling to muster anything tangible from what has been a disappointing season.
If he needs to see the magnitude of the task he faces then he need look no further than yesterday's game at the RDS. The final scoreline accurately reflected a gulf in confidence, ability, discipline and cutting edge between the visitors and a Leinster side that played only fitfully in the first half.
To compound Ulster's problems, they lost Rory Best to ankle-ligament damage.
The acting Ulster coach, Steve Williams, confirmed no decision had yet being taken in appointing a successor to Mark McCall but conceded, "You can get away with three or four weeks (of an interregnum) but it is in everyone's interests for it not to drag on. We are not lacking motivation but it has affected us over the last few weeks. We need to know where we are going."
For their part, Leinster reclaimed the summit of the Magners League table - Cardiff had briefly held it during the day - with a performance that was good in places. They failed to achieve a four-try bonus point, something to which their head coach, Michael Cheika, alluded in the aftermath.
"I'm a little bit disappointed that we didn't finish other opportunities better," he said. "We had some good moments and overall I'm happy enough with the result."
Brian O'Driscoll's absence from the starting line-up should not preclude his availability for the Ospreys match at the same venue next week.
The news about Ollie le Roux was less promising; he retired with a recurrence of a rib injury.
Leinster's victory was underpinned once again by a fine effort from their pack, in which Keith Gleeson, stand-in captain Leo Cullen and Malcolm O'Kelly excelled. And Jonathan Sexton at outhalf had a fine match in marshalling a back line that was markedly better individually and collectively.
As for the basic skills, both teams were strikingly inept in the opening 40 minutes, the game degenerating into an interminable setpiece loop as handling errors followed thick and fast, ruling out the continuity required to sustain pressure.
Leinster were marginally less profligate and also benefited from the fact they did manage a couple of passages in which the ball carrier successfully off-loaded in the tackle, making significant yardage.
Their openside flanker Gleeson - deservedly awarded the man-of-the-match accolade - was particularly effective in this respect, appearing a number of times on the shoulder of the ball carrier to great effect.
Ulster scrambled manfully, by fair means and sometimes foul, and kept their try-line intact during that period.
But they conceded three kickable penalties, all of which were unerringly dispatched by Felipe Contepomi, though with just nine points on the board Leinster would assuredly have felt short-changed in the context of their territorial domination.
A classic example was provided by the opening eight minutes of the match; the home side spent most of it within five metres of the visitors' line but lacked the patience and composure to make the pressure pay, the one-out runner never likely to succeed in barging past a massed goal-line defence.
The end product was Contepomi's first penalty and there followed a 20-minute period where the team in possession were a greater risk to themselves than to the opposition. Ulster were more culpable in this respect and were basically limited to the odd straight-line surge from Andrew Trimble or Tommy Bowe.
Pulling and dragging off the ball caused one or two tempers to fray but referee Peter Fitzgibbon had enough to occupy him with the plethora of handling errors.
Le Roux's departure through injury - he was replaced after 16 minutes by Cian Healy - took away a pronounced edge for the home side in the scrum but Healy carried ball powerfully in the loose.
Leinster's best try-scoring opportunity followed a strong straight line from Sexton and a good offload to Gleeson that saw them sweep into the Ulster 22. Isaac Boss was singled out for deliberately transgressing, getting a yellow card, but it could have been any one of two or three white shirts.
Contepomi had posted his second penalty two minutes earlier from long range and made no mistake with the easier kick.
The opening throes of the second half provided little respite for Ulster, Neil Best being sent to the bin for a trip on Sexton and Contepomi nudging Leinster 12 points clear from the resultant penalty.
Rory Best was taken off on a stretcher with a serious-looking ankle injury, and four minutes later, on 56 minutes, Healy demonstrated why he is seen as an outstanding prospect, showing great footwork and awareness to step inside a tackle and burrow over for a well taken try - the effervescent Bernard Jackman and his cohorts in the pack having made the hard yards.
In fairness to Leinster the quality of their play had improved appreciably and from yet another turnover, Jamie Heaslip crossed for a superb try, outpacing the cover in racing onto Sexton's pass.
Contepomi converted, having earlier tagged on a penalty, and at 29-0 the journey home for Ulster will have harboured little festive cheer.
Leinster made a decent fist of chasing the bonus point; two great runs by Luke Fitzgerald and Gary Brown tantalised the 18,300 crowd. But they could not finish either opportunity.
It was a minor cavil on a day where the match was very much a game of two halves, in terms of quality, for Leinster.
Scoring sequence: 8 mins: Contepomi penalty, 3-0; 25: Contepomi pen, 6-0; 27: Contepomi pen, 9-0 (half-time: 9-0); 49: Contepomi pen, 12-0; 56: Healy try, Contepomi conversion, 19-0; 64: Contepomi pen, 22-0; 67: Heaslip try, Contepomi con, 29-0.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; L Fitzgerald, G D'Arcy, F Contepomi, R Kearney; J Sexton, G Easterby; O le Roux, B Jackman, S Wright; L Cullen (capt), M O'Kelly; S Jennings, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: C Healy for le Roux (16 mins); C Warner for D'Arcy (27-33 mins); S Keogh for Jennings (half-time); C Keane for Easterby (67 mins); C Warner for Sexton, C Jowitt for O'Kelly (both 71 mins); G Brown for Kearney (73 mins); B Blaney for Jackman (77 mins).
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Steinmetz, S Danielli; P Wallace, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best (capt), D Fitzpatrick; J Harrison, R Caldwell; N Best, K Dawson, M McCullough. Replacements: B Young for D Fitzpatrick (49 mins); N Brady for R Best (52 mins); D Humphreys for Steinmetz, C del Fava for Harrison (both 57 mins); D Pollock for Dawson (58 mins); G Webb for Caldwell (70 mins); P Marshall for Boss (75 mins). Sinbinned: Boss 27 mins; N Best 47 mins.
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRFU).
How they stand
P W D L F A B P
Leinster 9 6 1 2 203 147 2 28
Cardiff 8 6 0 2 173 130 3 27
Munster 8 4 1 3 150 123 3 21
Llanelli 7 4 0 3 188 134 4 20
Glasgow 8 4 1 3 135 133 1 19
Edinburgh 8 3 2 3 135 129 2 18
Ospreys 7 2 1 4 125 113 4 14
Dragons 8 3 0 5 141 191 1 13
Connacht 8 2 1 5 110 166 1 11
Ulster 9 2 1 6 112 206 1 11
