Leinster hold off Stormers to reach URC final

Leinster will face the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final for the second straight year after the Irish province overcame the Stormers in a bruising semi-final at Aviva Stadium.

Desperate to end the season with silverware after suffering Champions Cup final heartache at the hands of Bordeaux-Begles last month, Leinster toppled a ferocious Stormers side to take a significant step towards retaining the URC title.

The fast-starting home side raced into a 13-0 lead through Rieko Ioane's try and two Sam Prendergast penalties.

But the Stormers shook off a sluggish start and reduced the deficit to five points with an Adre Smith try and Jurie Matthee penalty before the sides clashed in the tunnel at half-time.

While a second Matthee penalty brought the South African side to within two points, their ill-discipline ultimately proved costly, with Leolin Zas yellow-carded early in the second half before Ruan Ackermann's yellow for a dangerous clean-out on Ronan Kelleher was upgraded to a 20-minute red.

Salmaan Moerat was also sent to the sin-bin for kicking the ball out of Jamison Gibson-Park's hands in the build-up to the Leinster scrum-half's try which sealed the holders' place in the Croke Park final on 19 June.

The Bulls booked their spot in the decider earlier on Saturday with a 22-21 comeback win over Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield.

With momentum shifting, Leinster prop Thomas Clarkson was penalised at the scrum, allowing Matthee to kick the visitors back to within five points.

Hoping to bookend the half with tries, Leinster heaped pressure on the Stormers after a superb break from Lowe, only for Prendergast to cough up possession, leaving the game finely poised as the players tussled on their way down the tunnel.

Leinster's frustrations only grew in the second half. The home side failed to score with Zas in the bin, with a second Matthee penalty bringing the Stormers to within two points and stirring further unease in the Leinster ranks.

But Ackermann's indiscretion - for which Stormers boss John Dobson apologised after the match - was a key moment, and with the replacement back row off the field, Leinster chipped away before the elusive Gibson-Park darted through a tiring Stormers defence to score.

With Moerat's yellow card reducing the South Africans to 13 men, Leinster comfortably navigated the last 10 minutes to set up another meeting with the Bulls.

Leinster: H Keenan; J O'Brien, R Ioane, J Osborne, J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt).

Replacements: G McCarthy, A Usanov, R Slimani, D Mangan, J Conan, L McGrath, H Byrne, G Ringrose.

Stormers: D Willemse; W Simelane, R Nel (capt), D du Plessis, L Zas; J Matthee, I Khan; N Mchunu, A Venter, N Fouche, A Smith, C Evans, P de Villiers, B Dixon, E Roos.

Replacements: J Kotze, V Matongo, Z Porthen, S Moerat, R Ackermann, M Theunissen, S Ungerer, W Gelant.

Sin-bin: Zas (47), Moerat (71)

Red card: Ackermann (69)