ULSTER BEAT LEICESTER TIGERS TO SET UP HOME QUARTER-FINAL AGAINST SARACENS

Ruan Pienaar masterminded a superb Ulster comeback this evening at Welford Road as Mark Anscombe’s men brought the Heineken Cup quarter-finals back to Belfast for the first time since 1999 – the year the Ravenhill side went on to lift the trophy.

A second-half try from the scrum-half, topped up by 17 points from his boot, saw Ulster through in a match they had once trailed in by 10 points, securing top seeding in the quarter-final stage and an early-April clash with eighth-placed Saracens at Ravenhill.

While man-of-the-match Pienaar will rightly receive many of the plaudits, the entire Ulster team played its part in neutralising the flair and strength of the Tigers going forward, to inflict the first home European defeat at Welford Road in seven years