Leinster began the Christmas cheer early at the RDS on Friday, beating their provincial rivals Ulster 54-42 in their Pro 14 clash.
Similarly to their performance against Northampton in the Heineken Champions Cup last weekend, Leinster relentlessly attacked their opponents all night but, in a brilliant second-half onslaught, Ulster fought back.
Leo Cullen's side crossed the try line for the first time within three minutes when Cian Kelleher made the initial break down the right. The hosts barraged the line before Max Deegan eventually took the honour of getting across it.
Harry Byrne - who put in a near-perfect performance for his side - added the conversion, but Ulster were level just six minutes later when Angus Kernohan got over in the corner after a spell of pressure from the northern province.
The drawn scoreboard though was shortlived. Scott Penny bagged himself two tries within ten minutes while Ulster were temporarily reduced to fourteen men when Matt Faddes was sin-binned for a high tackle.
A crossfield kick from Byrne gave Robbie Henshaw the opportunity to join the scoring on 28 minutes. Returning from his sin-bin, Faddes got one back for Ulster before Fergus McFadden got over on the stroke of half-time, allowing Byrne to extend his perfect conversion record in the first half.
Leinster went into the break with a lead of 33-14 and it was five minutes after the restart that they were again piling the misery on to Ulster. Rob Kearney, in the week he was overlooked for Andy Farrell's first Ireland squad, showed great determination to touchdown in the corner after a skip pass from Byrne - the Ireland Head Coach watching on from the stands.
Ulster scored four tries in the second half ensuring their bonus point courtesy of Craig Gilroy, Jonny Stewart and a double from Greg Jones. Ronan Kelleher and Max Deegan got Leinster's other second-half tries.
Leinster, who are unbeaten since their Heineken Champions Cup final loss to Saracens in May, now sit eight points clear atop of the Pro 14, with Ulster in second place. Next up Leinster face Munster on December 28th while Ulster face Connacht on the 27th.
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