Ulster ease past Connacht
After their thrilling double header against Clermont in Europe, Les Kiss' side were dominant at the Kingspan Stadium, with tries from Stuart McCloskey in the first half and Clive Ross in the second, helping them to a 20-0 lead.
Matt Healy responded for defending champions Connacht, but their barren run in Belfast continues – having not won there since 1960.
Ulster couldn't manage the bonus point that would have sealed a perfect night, but did enough to secure the crucial victory against a Connacht side who couldn't match their performance against Wasps a week ago.
It was a scrappy start to the game, with both teams struggling to impose their game plan, and in the end it was Paddy Jackson who got the home side on the board with a penalty on 20 minutes.
Five minutes later and Ulster were over for the first try of the game with some brilliant build-up play from Charles Piutau ended with a score for the outstanding McCloskey.
The All Black fullback sliced through the Connacht defence, and while the cover got across in time to stop him scoring, Ruan Pienaar had no trouble putting McCloskey over for the simple finish on the right from the two-on-one.
Jackson's conversion made it 10-0 to the home side, and he extended the lead four minutes before half-time with a second penalty.
Another fantastic break from Piutau early in the second half left Connacht defenders trailing in his wake and led to a second Ulster try.
McCloskey chose not to go wide when he seemed to have an overlap and Pienaar was then stopped just short thanks to a great Denis Buckley tackle.
It was only temporary respite for the visitors, with Ross showing his power to force his way over right by the posts from the resulting scrum.
Jackson's conversion made it 20-0 and it looked another sobering trip to Belfast for Connacht.
They hit back immediately though, with flyhalf Jack Carty producing a brilliant break through the Ulster defence, leaving Piutau, among others, behind him.
He was hauled down just short of the line but quick ball allowed Kieran Marmion to put a charging Healy over for the simple finish.
Carty added the extras and Connacht were back within two scores, although Jackson's third penalty of the evening with 12 minutes to go all but guaranteed the victory with Ulster 23-7 up.
There was still time left for Ulster to chase a bonus point, and they almost had a brilliant try when replacement scrumhalf Paul Marshall chipped over the top after a scrum and looked to be fastest to the ball only for it to beat him into touch.
And Louis Ludik was even closer when he hacked forward a loose ball, got a kind bounce but stumbled just as he looked to be in.
Connacht responded with a great break down the right from Naulia Dawai but he knocked on after being brought down on a frustrating evening for Pat Lam's injury-hit side, with Ultan Dillane limping off late on to add to his woes.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: McCloskey, Ross
Cons: Jackson 2
Pens: Jackson 3
For Connacht:
Try: Carty
Con: Carty
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Clive Ross, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Tommy Bowe.
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Rory Parata, 12 Danie Poolman, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Nepia Fox-Matamua, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 James Cannon, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Tom McCartney, 18 JP Cooney, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Gaffney, 23 Naulia Dawai.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Nigel Correll (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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