Ulster outplay Connacht to go top
URC REPORT: Ulster put in a commanding performance as they claimed a 32-12 bonus-point victory over Connacht at a chilly Kingspan Stadium on Friday.
The visitors were down a man early doors when Peter Sullivan collided with Mike Lowry and was yellow-carded for the challenge. Ulster had an opportunity soon after when they had an attacking line-out five metres from the Connacht line, but the men in green did well over the ball to force the turnover and get out of trouble.
Ulster looked certain to score twelve minutes in, when Mike Lowry danced through Connacht’s defence with Ethan McIlroy in support, but the wing was brought into touch just short of the line. It didn’t take long however for the hosts to have another bite at the cherry, again set in motion by a scintillating Mike Lowry run. Greg Jones was on-hand and did really well to ground the ball over the line for their first points on the board. Nathan Doak nailed the tricky conversion to make it 7-0.
Just a few minutes later, Ulster struck again, this time through Declan Moore on his debut. The hooker snuck over from the back of the maul to make it a well-worked forwards’ try. Doak’s conversion from the other side of the field was good.
The side from Galway soon responded, and Oran McNulty dotted down to pull one back for the visitors in the corner. Conor Fitzgerald was unable to land the conversion.
Robert Baloucoune demonstrated his devastating pace for Ulster’s third try, when he left several Connacht defenders in his wake, scorching down the right wing to crash over as the clock went red for the first half. Nathan Doak notched up the extra two points to give Ulster a commanding lead going into the changing rooms at the break.
Connacht were quickest to register on the board in the second half through winger, Alex Wootton who was waiting in the wings to run clear and Fitzgerald fired over the extras.
Ethan McIlroy looked close to scoring on 52 minutes after a jinking run but he was soaked up in the tackle by Sammy Arnold just short of the line. Ulster had a penalty however as Connacht were offside, so Nathan Doak obliged with a penalty.
The Ulster men had a good period of territory and a couple of chances but Connacht were canny over the ball five metres from their line to win successive penalties.
Nathan Doak made it 100 percent off the tee on 74 minutes with another penalty to put the game out of reach, but they weren’t done yet. It took until the clock was deep in the red for them to claim the bonus-point try. Billy Burns made a pin-point cross-field kick into the arms of Robert Baloucoune to dot down for a brace, sending Ulster to the summit of the URC table on Friday.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Jones, Moore, Baloucoune 2
Cons: Doak 3
Pens: Doak 2
For Connacht
Tries: McNulty, Wootton
Cons: Fitzgerald
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Angus Curtis, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Ethan McIlroy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 John Andrew, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Declan Moore, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Ben Moxham, 23 Rob Lyttle.
Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Peter Sullivan, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jarrad Butler (captain), 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Oisín Dowling, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Tietie Tuimauga, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Jonny Murphy, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Leva Fifita, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Cathal Forde, 23 Oran McNulty.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (IRFU), Paul Haycock (IRFU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)
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