ULSTER 10 LEINSTER 25

Replacement backs Jordan Larmour and Luke McGrath inflicted the damage with a try and a brace respectively, in a display even more impressive given the absence of so many of the province's leading lights, including Jonathan Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier.

Rory Best's first start of the season brought him to the same 200-cap milestone reached by Robbie Diack last week at la Rochelle, while at the other end of the spectrum, the unavailability of John Cooney and Paul Marshall gave Ballynahinch RFC scrum-half Aaron Cairns his first senior start for the province.

Two other changes to the backline from Sunday's starting XV in France saw Luke Marshall take over from Darren Cave in midfield, while Jacob Stockdale, buoyed by his inclusion in the Ireland Autumn Internationals squad, replaced Andrew Trimble on the wing.

Full-back Charles Piutau, wing Tommy Bowe, centre Stuart McCloskey and out-half Lealiifano completed the back seven.

Three personnel changes up front brought in Best at hooker, Rodney Ah You at tighthead and Jean Deysel at Number Eight, with the front row completed by Callum Black retained at loosehead. Skipper Iain Henderson slotted into the second row alongside Alan O'Connor, while Reidy and Chris Henry flanked either side of Deysel.

Neat interplay between the Ulster centres got the home side moving in the opening seconds, and a bad-tempered exchange between Stockdale and visiting captain Sean O'Brien soon served to show just how committed both teams were for the interpro challenge.

Lealiifano's seventh-minute penalty spurred Leinster into life and Ulster soon had Stockdale to thank for a try-saving aerial take in a 50-50 challenge with Adam Bryne as out-half Ross Byrne's crossfield kick cleverly shifted play from left to right 10 metres from the line.

There was no stopping Larmour, however, as the replacement back, recently on for centre Noel Reid, cut off the right wing to scythe his way through the Ulster defence for a fine individual try on 15 minutes.

Deysel soon succumbed to injury himself, replaced by Diack, and as further skirmishes broke out the game adopted a stop-start rhythm until quick hands got Ulster around the outside of the Leinster defence on the right flank, where Reidy pulled off the back of an eventual five-metre scrum to bundle over.

Byrne's penalty levelled the scoreboard at 10 - 10 on the half hour, but as Leinster probed again and again, only superhuman defensive effort from Ulster, and, admittedly, an eventual infringement from which Byrne crafted a further three points, kept a second try for the visitors at bay.

Half-Time Score Ulster 10 Leinster 13

Both sides came within a whisker of scoring within 120 seconds of the restart, Piutau only just beaten in a sprint to Lealiifano's kick-on after a surging run from the out-half, while Jamison Gibson-Park and Dave Kearney were unlucky to knock on just shy of the line in a similar move down the right Ulster flank.

A marauding run from Marshall, where the centre flatly refused to be taken down, won Ulster valuable metres in midfield, and with Dave Kearney sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on the hosts moved into potentially their most promising period of the night.

It was quickly and disappointingly to prove the inverse, however, as replacement scrum-half McGrath silenced the Kingspan Stadium with a breakaway try from out of nowhere, leaving Ulster with it all to do in the final quarter.

Leinster did well to slow the game down into a series of set pieces, keeping Ulster entrenched in their own half and playing percentage balls until McGrath scampered over once again in the dying seconds to compound the Ulster misery.

The squad next makes the long trip to South Africa to face the Southern Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay on Saturday 4 November, before Guinness Pro14 action takes a three-week hiatus for the international series.

Full-Time Score Ulster 10 Leinster 25

Ulster (15 - 9) Charles Piutau; Tommy Bowe, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Christian Lealiifano, Aaron Cairns
(1 - 8) Callum Black, Rory Best, Rodney Ah You, Alan O'Connor, Iain Henderson (c), Sean Reidy, Chris Henry, Jean Deysel
Replacements (16- 23) Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Ross Kane, Kieran Treadwell, Robbie Diack, Jonny Stewart, Peter Nelson, Louis Ludik

Leinster (15 - 9) Rob Kearney; Adam Byrne, Rory O'Loughlin, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park
(1 - 8) Jack McGrath, James Tracy, Tadhg Furlong, Devin Toner, James Ryan, Dan Leavy, Jordi Murphy, Sean O'Brien
Replacements (16 - 23) Richardt Strauss, Cian Healy, Andrew Porter, Ross Molony, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Cathal Marsh, Jordan Larmour