After taking a bit of time to settle into their stride, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was delighted with how his team grew into the contest as the league leaders kept their unbeaten season intact following a 27-20 win at Ravenhill on Friday night.
Trailing 13-10 at the break, Leinster stepped it up a couple of gears to heap more misery on their northern rivals who saw their unbeaten home record come to a shuttering halt.
“Yeah, delighted with the outcome. First half was scrappy I thought,” said Cullen.
“We knew Ulster would be unbelievably competitive, great atmosphere here today so we are really pleased to get the win.
“First half, it was a little bit messy from our point of view. But second half in terms of giving everyone, I thought we had a lot more energy and [we were] more dominant around the contact area and played the game for a big chunk of the half down that end and took our opportunities.
“Delighted to come out of here with a bonus point win as well, so, it keeps us ticking along.
“It’s understandable, you think round 6, then it’s four weekends before you play round 7, so it’s slightly unusual.
“But credit to the lads, they have worked hard over the last number of weeks and it is really pleasing to come away from home and get a win,” continued the former second row.
With 14 players lining out for Ireland this weekend against Australia, Leinster were still in the position to field a strong matchday squad, and Cullen was also in the envious position to welcome back international trio Jack Conan, Jimmy O’Brien and Jordan Larmour.
And much to the satisfaction of Cullen, all three would go on to make a telling contribution.
“Yeah, I think they all grew into the game as well. Delighted to see the three of them come through the 80 minutes and they all look ok down there as well.
“And that’s the thing, it’s a pretty intense block of games we have had for all the teams.
“Squad depth is massively important and something we talked about downstairs there with players coming back in next week so they are trying to get back up to speed for the Champion’s Cup next week.
“It will be a serious test for us in terms of us applying ourselves in a pretty short lead into that game (Bristol).
“Obviously, the game is not until Sunday and then we have six days until Clermont, and two more inter-pros over the Christmas period.
“We know what it is like, obviously Ulster is the same. It’s a seriously competitive period in the season where you see so many different factors at this time of the year.
“But we are in the entertainment industry and you have got to roll out! But it is an exciting block of games for us.
“We as a group have tried to get the balance right in terms of recharging the batteries and getting the energy right.”