Ireland ‘A’ international Darren Cave went on the rampage during Ulster’s comprehensive friendly win over Portugal at Ravenhill on Thursday night. Man-of-the-match Cave scored four of Ulster’s 10 tries as they hit the tourists for 62 points.
INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE MATCH: Thursday, November 13
ULSTER 62 PORTUGAL 6, Ravenhill
Scorers: Ulster: Tries: Darren Cave 4, Timoci Nagusa 2, Mark McCrea 2, Neil Hanna, Ian Whitten; Cons: Ian Humphreys 3, Niall O’Connor 3
Portugal: Pens: Pedro Cabral 2
Ulster controlled this game right from the off and Darren Cave, the clear candidate for man-of-the-match, blazed through for a try in the third minute.
Ian Humphreys was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt but after his opposite number Pedro Cabral snuck over a penalty for Portugal, Ulster crossed the whitewash again.
Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa powered over for his fourth try in three matches, to take the score-line to 10-3.
An unconverted effort from winger Mark McCrea followed before Cave dashed through for his second try in the 22nd minute, which Humphreys converted.
Portugal, who were beaten by Connacht last Sunday, mustered a successful penalty from Cabral in reply.
But Ulster, who were captained for the first time by flanker David Pollock, had the final say of the first half. McCrea broke clear down the left wing and scooted over for his second unconverted try.
27-6 ahead at half-time, there was no let-up from Ulster at the start of the second half as just four minutes in, Cave racked up his hat-trick, again with Humphreys adding the extras.
Despite losing number 8 Robbie Diack to the sin-bin, Ulster soon edged closer to the half century mark.
Hooker Neil Hanna and Cave helped themselves to further tries, with Humphreys and his replacement Niall O’Connor tapping the conversions through the posts.
With experienced New Zealander Paul Steinmetz on for the final quarter, Matt Williams’ men continued to find holes in a tiring Portuguese defence.
They rounded off a confidence-building display with two converted tries. Cave’s centre partner Ian Whitten got over in the 64th minute for a deserve score and two minutes later, Nagusa cantered over for his second of the nigh. O’Connor supplied both conversions.
ULSTER: Bryn Cunningham; Timoci Nagusa, Darren Cave, Ian Whitten, Mark McCrea; Ian Humphreys, Cillian Willis; Bryan Young, Neil Hanna, Declan Fitzpatrick, Matt McCullough, Ed O’Donoghue, Thomas Anderson, David Pollock (capt), Robbie Diack.
Replacements (all used): Nigel Brady, Justin Fitzpatrick, Jarlath Carey, Kieron Dawson, Isaac Boss, Niall O’Connor, Paul Steinmetz, Chris Henry, James Sandford, Chris Cochrane.
PORTUGAL: Lourenco Kadosh; Aderito Esteves, Diogo Gama, Francisco Mira, Goncalo Foro; Pedro Cabral, Jose Pinto; Gustavo Duarte, Joao Correia (capt), Juan Severino, Valter Jorge, Goncalo Silva, Julian Bardi, Antonio Duarte, Eduardo Acosta.
Replacements (all used): Laurent Balague, Bernardo Duarte, Joao Junior, Nuno Taful, Diogo Fialho, Afonso Sousa, Frederico Oliveira, Miguel Leal, Yannick Ricardo, Vasco Gaspar.
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