Five-try Leinster rout Bulls to retain URC title

Five-try Leinster rout Bulls to retain URC titleImage source, InphoImage caption, Leinster players celebrate with Rieko Ioane after he scored his tryByRichard PetrieBBC Sport NI JournalistPublished15 minutes agoUnited Rugby Championship finalLeinster (22) 36Tries: O'Brien, Ioane, Conan, Prendergast, Byrne Cons: Prendergast 3, Byrne Pens: PrendergastBulls (0) 7Tries: Moodie Cons: Pollard Leinster retained their United Rugby Championship title in convincing fashion as they defeated the Bulls in the final at Croke Park for the second year in a row.For the Irish province, the 36-7 victory goes some way to atoning for the disappointment of missing out on a fifth European Champions Cup crown when they lost to Bordeaux-Begles in the decider of that competition in Bilbao last month.Leinster dominated the opening period and led 22-0 at the interval thanks to tries from Tommy O'Brien, Rieko Ioane and Jack Conan as the Pretoria side paid the penalty for an error-strewn first-half performance which saw them twice reduced to 14 men for deliberate knock-on offences.Sam Prendergast and Harry Byrne added further scores after the break, with Canan Moodie crossing for Bulls, who found themselves on the wrong end of two debatable decisions by the officials as they crossed the line twice more for tries that were ruled out.Leinster have now won the league 10 times in its various guises - the first to defend the URC crown since its 2021 rebrand - while the Bulls suffered disappointment yet again with a fourth defeat in the past five URC finals.Hosts boss Bulls in first halfThe Bulls were reduced to 14 within the first two minutes when centre Moodie was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on which prevented a line-break.Four minutes later O'Brien went over for Leinster's first try when he pounced on a poor pass from Handre Pollard on halfway by kicking the loose ball, collecting it 30 metres out and sprinting clear to score under the posts.The second touchdown w...