A LATE TRY from Ian Porter gave Ulster a winning start to the new season as the northern province put three tries on Leinster to take a 21-19 win.
With Joe Schmidt taking a seat in the newly developed Memorial Stand in Ravenhill, Ulster managed to come away with the win despite being second best for long spells.
Leinster’s new out-half Jimmy Gopperth produced an assured display, offering 14 points with the boot before being replaced in the 60th minute with his side leading 14-19.
Gopperth was pivotal to Leinster’s early run to a 13-0 lead. His unerring accuracy off the tee complementing Dominic Ryan’s opening score of the game in the right-hand corner.
Ulster’s experienced Kiwi heads, Jared Payne and Nick Williams led the fightback, each powering over the try-line to give the hosts a 14-13 half time lead.
With 13 changes by Mark Anscombe at the break, Ulster had to build momentum from scratch and only really gained traction after Gopperth had departed the scene two successful kicks later.
With an impressive crowd of 10,500 occupying a three-sided Ravenhill, the hosts were able to set up camp in the Leinster 22 and the pressure eventually told five minutes from time with Porter finding the slightest gap after McKinney took a quick-tap free kick in front of the posts.
