Augustus try sparks Ulster comeback, Connacht punish Scarlets

WRAP: Juarno Augustus’s try helped Ulster come back from a 7-19 deficit to win 40-19 against Edinburgh, whilst Connacht convincingly defeated Scarlets in Galway by 31-14.

Augustus also made the third most carries (12) behind teammates Zac Ward (13) and Scott Wilson (17).

The result sees Ulster move up to third place in the United Rugby Championship standings, level on points with Cardiff in fourth and five points behind the table-topping Glasgow Warriors.

The match in the Scottish capital wouldn’t be remembered for the most disciplined contest, with two red cards and a yellow card dished out.

Edinburgh flyhalf Ross Thompson opened the scoring in the sixth minute, before Charlie Irvine replied for Ulster.

Tries to Harry Paterson and Wes Goosen edged out a 19-7 lead for Edinburgh at the 30th minute mark – their last score in the match.

Augustus scored six minutes before half-time, with Jack Murphy’s conversion bringing them back within five points.

After the break, there were tries for replacements Jake Flannery, Scott Wilson, Conor McKee and Ben Carson.

There were also red cards issued to Ulster’s Harry Sheridan and Edinburgh’s Harris Morris.

In Galway, Connacht secured a bonus-point win, which sees them move up to ninth place behind the Bulls ahead of their rescheduled Round Eight clash against the Stormers on Saturday.

Sean Jansen’s brace was the only tries scored for the hosts in the first half to give them a 12-0 lead at the break.

Jack Aungier’s converted try pushed Connacht’s lead to 17-0 before Scarlets fought back with two tries of their own through Joe Roberts and Ioan Jones, both converted by Carwyn Leggatt-Jones.

Two more scores by Fiachna Barrett and Eoin de Buiear sealed the deal for Connacht, with Scarlet’s misery continuing this season.

Edinburgh 19-40 Ulster

Scorers

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Thompson, Paterson, Goosen
Cons: Thompson 2

For Ulster:
Tries: Irvine, Augustus, Flannery, Wilson, McKee, Carson
Cons: Murphy 5

Yellow card: Zac Ward (Ulster, 1′)
Red cards: Harry Sheridan (Ulster, 44′), Harri Morris (Edinburgh, 63′)

Teams

Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Connor Boyle, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Angus Williams, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Jack Brown.

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 David Shanahan, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Bryn Ward, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Harry Sheridan, 3 Tom McAllister, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 James McCormick, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 David McCann, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Ben Carson.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: David Sutherland (Scotland), Sam O’Neil (Scotland)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

Connacht 31-14 Scarlets

Scorers

For Connacht:
Tries: Jansen 2, Aungier, Barrett, De Buitlear
Cons: Naughton 3

For Scarlets:
Tries: Roberts, Jones
Cons: Leggatt-Jones 2

Teams

Connacht: 15 Sam Gilbert, 14 Shane Jennings, 13 John Devine, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Chay Mullins, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Paul Boyle (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 David O’Connor, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Fiachna Barrett, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Oisin McCormack.

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Jones, 14 Jac Davies, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Macs Page, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson (captain), 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Gabe McDonald, 23 Tomi Lewis.

Referee: Ru Campbell (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Padraic Reidy (Ireland), Tomás O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)