Ulster hold off Edinburgh

The Irish province scored all their points in the opening ten minutes of the game and it proved enough in the end as they move up to ninth on the Pro12 table.

In Friday's other game, Cardiff Blues brought Pro12 leaders Connacht back down to earth with a 20-16 win at Cardiff Arms Park.

We look at Friday's action!

Ulster 14-7 Edinburgh

Edinburgh had beaten Ulster earlier in the season but couldn't repeat that feat as the hosts leapfrogged their visitors in the Pro12 table.

A penalty try and a Rory Scholes score had the Irish province 14-0 up within ten minutes and they held that advantage until half-time, as they looked to end a three-match losing streak against Scottish opponents.

Cornell du Preez dotted down for the visitors ten minutes into the second half but despite their best efforts they failed to close the gap any further as Les Kiss' troops notched a fifth win of the campaign.

Ulster made a number of changes from the side that lost 3-8 to Leinster last time out and raced into the lead after just four minutes.

Concerted pressure saw Chris Henry nearly cross the whitewash but after a TMO review, they were awarded a penalty try after Edinburgh were adjudged to have illegally stopped Ruan Pienaar sneaking over.

Paddy Jackson duly added the straightforward conversion but Jack Cuthbert was less successful from the tee soon after, as his long penalty fell short.

Things went from bad to worse for Edinburgh on 12 minutes as they – despite having a Pro12-best 91 percent tackle success heading into the game – failed to take down Scholes, allowing the winger to slice through the defence, sidestep the last defender and touch down.

Jackson again added the extras and at 14-0 up, Ulster continued to dominate – almost increasing their lead, only to knock on five metres from the try-line.

Edinburgh were undoubtedly on top in the scrum but consistently failed to turn that into points meaning they still trailed 14-0 at half-time.

The Scottish outfit looked like a different side after the break as substitute Hamish Watson took the game to the hosts with some aggressive running.

And they were rewarded on 49 minutes as Du Preez collected beautifully to dot down, Cuthbert nailing the tricky touchline conversion to narrow the deficit to seven points.

Stuart McCloskey thought he had grabbed a third Ulster try only for the TMO to rule he was stopped inches short and the hosts continued to pile the pressure on.

To their credit, the Edinburgh defence held firm although Ulster did look dangerous in the wide channels with Luke Marshall particularly threatening.

The centre looked to have put the game to bed as he slid over for a 72nd-minute try but the TMO once again denied Kiss' troops thanks to an infringement during the build-up.

And Ulster saw off any late pressure as they will now head into European action full of confidence.

The scorers:

For Ulster:

Tries: Penalty Try, Scholes

Cons: Jackson 2

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Du Preez

Con: Cuthbert

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Iain Henderson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Kyle McCall.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Wiahan Herbst, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Stuart McCloskey, 23 Louis Ludik.

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Will Helu, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Alex Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Jamie Ritchie, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Michael Allen, 23 Blair Kinghorn.

Referee: Ian Davies 

Assistant Referees: Kieran Barry, Olly Hodges

TMO: Alan Rogan

Cardiff Blues 20-16 Connacht

Tom James' second-half try helped Cardiff Blues to a hard-fought 20-16 win over Pro12 leaders Connacht at Cardiff Arms Park.

Connacht captain John Muldoon became the first man in history to make 200 Pro12 appearances but he had little else to celebrate as the Blues recorded just a second league win this season.

Manoa Vosawai opened the scoring early on for the hosts only for the league leaders to respond with tries through Ian Porter and Eoin McKeon, as they established a 13-10 half-time lead.

But James capitalised on a overlap after the break to put Cardiff in front and despite considerable late pressure, Connacht were unable to notch the crucial try as they slipped to just a second Pro12 defeat of the campaign.

Danny Wilson made five changes to the Blues side that lost 6-13 to Ospreys last time out and those alterations appeared to pay dividends early on as they made a lightning start.

James twice made dangerous breaks before a seventh-minute line-out drive saw Vosawai powerfully spin off the back and crash over for the opening try – Rhys Patchell converting.

That score seemed to wake Connacht up and they got on the board in the 13th minute as the always fleet-of-foot Matt Healy made a great break before slipping the ball to Porter to dive over.

The scrumhalf saw his conversion hit the post but the hosts soon moved 10-7 ahead as Quinn Roux won a five-metre line-out before feeding returning No.8 McKeon, who dotted down.

Porter's conversion once again hit the upright and Patchell made the 27-year-old pay for his profligacy as he slotted a scrum penalty from in front of the posts to level things up.

The visitors showed the sort of form that has seen them move to the top of the Pro12 this term as they began to turn the screw and former Ulster man Porter added a three-pointer.

They continued to push on, as Healy looked a constant threat with ball in hand, but failed to add to their 13-10 lead before half-time.

And they were made to pay 15 minutes after the break as the Blues took advantage of an overlap enabling James to touch down, Patchell adding the extras.

That advantage became seven points as Patchell nailed a three-pointer after the Irish side were penalised for being off their feet but Jack Carty reduced the deficit to four with 13 minutes remaining.

The game became more open as both teams looked for a pivotal score and Bundee Aki made a scintillating 50-metre break, beating five Cardiff defenders, only for the ball to be knocked on a couple of phases later.

Becoming increasingly desperate, Connacht set up camp in the Blues 22 but the TMO ruled they knocked on over the line with four minutes left as Cardiff held on for a memorable win.

The scorers:

For Cardiff Blues:

Tries: Vosawai, James

Cons: Patchell 2

Pens: Patchell 2

For Connacht:

Tries: Porter, McKeon

Pens:  Porter, Carty

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Ethan Lewis, 1 Gethin Jenkins (captain).

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 James Down, 20 Cam Dolan, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Dan Fish.

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Darragh Leader, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Ian Porter, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 James Connolly, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Ronan Loughney.

Replacements: 16 Jason Harris-Wright, 17 Conan O'Donnell, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Peter Robb, 23 Rory Parata.

Referee: Andy Brace

Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Simon Rees 

TMO: Jonathan Mason

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