Ulster climb above Stormers after seeing off Dragons

URC REPORT: Hooker Tom Stewart claimed a second consecutive hat-trick in the United Rugby Championship to help Ulster to a six-try 40-19 victory over the Dragons in Belfast.

The win means Ulster have climbed above the Stormers to second position in the standings.

The Stormers will face Munster in Cape Town on Saturday.

Ulster also managed tries from David McCann and Nick Timoney as well as a penalty try.

The Dragons scored tries through Angus O’Brien, Elliot Dee and Rhodri Williams.

Ulster crossed for their first try after seven minutes when Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale combined to allow David McCann to sprint clear.

John Cooney converted from a difficult angle and the Irish province were up and running.

However, the Dragons quickly hit back when Taine Basham made a break, was caught by Michael Lowry but passed off the floor to the supporting Angus O’Brien whose conversion tied the scores.

Ulster wing Craig Gilroy then crashed over for his first score in over a year but his score was scrubbed out after the TMO’s intervention ruled that Duane Vermeulen had obstructed O’Brien.

Just before the half hour, a series of penalties resulted in Ulster mauling over the line with Stewart dotting down.

Stewart was over again from another maul in the closing minutes after Elliot Dee was yellow carded. Cooney added the two points this time to put the hosts 19-7 in front which is how the opening half ended.

Ulster secured their bonus point on 48 minutes and again it came from Stewart after a line break by Ethan McIlroy and assist from Stockdale.

But the visitors came right back into the game when Dee crashed through from a line-out, Will Reed converting and then two minutes later skipper Rhodri Williams sprinted clear though the conversion was wide.

With just over 10 minutes to go, and from a line-out move Nick Timoney hit a strong line which propelled him over the line for try number five for Ulster.

Cooney added his fourth conversion and it now stood at 33-19 to the northern province and in the 79th minute it became 40-19 after a penalty try was awarded.

Player of the Match

Tom Stewart’s hat-trick of tries ensured that he was the player of the match and a URC record holder in a season. The hooker’s prolific scoring record now means he has scored 16 tries in the URC – back-to-back hat tricks in the league.

Play of the Match

Ulster’s first try was a really creative piece of work which ended up with David McCann scoring. Stuart McCloskey threw a quality off-load to the supporting Jacob Stockdale and the winger’s swift transfer to the supporting McCann put the flank in space and allowed him stretch his legs to score in the corner.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: McCann, Stewart 3, Timoney, Penalty Try
Cons: Cooney 4

For Dragons:
Tries: O’Brien, Dee, Williams
Cons: O’Brien, Reed

Yellow cards: Elliot Dee (Dragons, 36′); Ashton Hewitt (Dragons, 79′)

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen 7 Marcus Rea, 6 David McCann, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Jeffery Toomaga Allen, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Ethan McIlroy.

Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Jared Rosser, 12 Max Clark, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Rhodri Williams (captain), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 George Nott, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Josh Reynolds, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 George Young, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Will Reed, 23 Aneurin Owen.

Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Padraic Reidy (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)