Ulster produced one of their best displays of the season to secure a much-needed 32-20 bonus point victory over GUINNESS PRO14 Conference B rivals Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield.
The win – Ulster’s first on their travels since Harlequins in December – gives Jono Gibbes’ side renewed hope of making the PRO14 play-offs as the maximum points close the gap on Edinburgh to eight points with the province having a game in hand.
Ulster started brightly with returning captain Rory Best at the helm, working the ball through multiple phases just outside the Edinburgh 22 before Jacob Stockdale put a kick in behind the defence that came to nothing.
Edinburgh out-half Duncan Weir, who was a key man in their recent triumph away to Connacht, broke the deadlock on nine minutes with a penalty from in front of the posts after Best was guilty of playing the ball on the ground.
Ulster hit back four minutes later with a superb try. From quick off-the-top lineout ball, the backs exploded into life, Louis Ludik fed Piutau, then the former All Black released Stockdale, and the younger Ireland winger outpaced the defence before popping the ball inside for Darren Cave to score with man-of-the-match John Cooney converting.
Weir added his second penalty two minutes later as Ulster again infringed in the shadow of their own posts, but Piutau grabbed Ulster’s second try on the 20-minute mark, finishing off another lightning-quick attack. Best shipped the ball to Stockdale, who put Cave through a gap, the centre outstripped the defence before giving the scoring pass to Piutau. Cooney failed to convert at 12-6.
Stockdale created Ulster’s third try three minutes later, again the Edinburgh defence had no answer to his power and pace as the Six Nations Player of the Championship surged through a gap and had Cooney on his shoulder to take the scoring pass. The scrum half converted his own touchdown to open up a 15-point lead.
Weir got Edinburgh back in the game on 31 minutes. Ulster had a lineout in the hosts’ half, Nick Timoney fed Cooney who looked to throw a long pass but the 27-times capped Scottish stand-off intercepted and had enough pace to run under the posts from 60 metres out. Weir added the extras to cut Ulster’s lead at the interval to 19-13.
Cooney nudged Ulster further in front with a well-struck 50th-minute penalty after Timoney was quick off the mark in defence and Iain Henderson, on the follow-up, latched onto possession at the breakdown. Ulster had two current Ireland Under-20s starting up front tonight, Matthew Dalton in the engine room with Henderson and tighthead Tom O’Toole who acquitted himself well during a 60-minute senior debut.
Edinburgh forced a penalty close to the Ulster posts on 57 minutes. They opted for a scrum and after Ulster stopped it illegally, the Scottish side elected to take another set piece as they heaped the pressure on. Again Edinburgh got the drive on and as they marched towards the line referee Nigel Owens duly awarded a penalty try.
With the lead cut to just two points, Ulster need some inspiration once more from their back-line. It was big centre Stuart McCloskey’s searing line-break into the 22 which earned the visitors a penalty and Cooney stepped up to slot it over.
There were some nervy moments before Ulster made certain of the result late on. McCloskey opened up the Edinburgh defence with another powerful run in the 78th minute, and while he tried to get the scoring pass off to Cave, Edinburgh scrum half Sean Kennedy intercepted and carried over his own line to concede a five-metre scrum.
Ulster went for the kill, getting a good shove on at the scrum, and the forwards patiently probed at the line before Henderson spotted his opportunity to barge over for the bonus point score – his first try of the season – which Cooney converted from close range.
“This win was really important,” said Ulster assistant coach Dwayne Peel afterwards. “There has been a lot of hard work but we have not had the results. It was good to have a good week’s training, good input from everyone, and nice to have the rewards because we have not had the rewards.
“It was a team effort. There were some good plays and we managed to get over the line (a few times). The attacking platform was excellent and the defensive effort from everyone was good. We kicked pretty well and that allowed us to get into the game in the right areas. Credit to the boys, some of the tries were very good.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a good couple of games coming up, starting next week with the Ospreys. It is the old cliche of taking it a week at a time. The Ospreys had a good win, beating Connacht at home, so it will be a tough match for us at home but if we prepare well, like we did this week, and get it right on the pitch, we’ll give ourselves a chance.
“Our away form has not been good this year, that is why this game was important – it showed the steely edge. Apart from an interception try, I thought we were dominant, though Edinburgh did come back in the second half. It was good to get that bonus point at the end.”
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