Benetton beat woeful Ulster
MATCH REPORT: Ulster were punished for woeful indiscipline during the second half as they suffered a 19-34 United Rugby Championship defeat against Benetton at Stadio di Monigo.
The visitors had three players – David McCann, Nick Timoney and Stewart Moore – yellow-carded in a damaging 20-minute spell, while they also saw a try disallowed following foul play by prop Tom O’Toole.
Benetton fought back from a 19-10 deficit to score 24 unanswered points, and Ulster could have few complaints about the outcome.
Scrumhalf Nathan Doak gave them a flying start through a third-minute try that he also converted, and Mike Lowry then claimed an interception score – again converted by Doak – after former Bath back Matt Gallagher touched down for Benetton.
Tomas Albornoz converted and kicked a penalty before Jacob Stockdale pounced for Ulster’s third try, but Benetton responded just before the interval when Ignacio Mendy crossed and Albornoz again converted.
Ulster then lost their way through a flurry of sin-binnings either side of an Albornoz penalty, and Benetton secured victory through replacement prop Mirco Spagnolo’s 65th-minute touchdown before Alessandro Izekor added a bonus-point try and Albornoz slotted two more conversions.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Tries: Gallagher, Mendy, Spagnolo, Izekor
Cons: Albornoz 4
Pen: Albornoz 2
For Ulster:
Tries: Doak, Lowry, Stockdale
Cons: Doak 2
Teams:
Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (captain), 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Jadin Kingi, 21 Simon Koroiyadi, 22 Nicolò Casilio, 23 Leonardo Marin
Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Michael Lowry, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney (captain), 6 Matty Rea, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Jacob Boyd.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Bryn O’Connor, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Reuben Crothers, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jude Postlethwaite
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Alex Frasson (Italy) & Derio Merli (Italy)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)
