Late Bonus Point Is Scant Consolation For Well-Beaten Ulster

Ulster simply could not live with the pace, power and intensity of a much-improved Toyota Cheetahs team in Bloemfontein, leaking nine tries at 4,500 feet and only securing the scant consolation of a try-scoring bonus point in the dying seconds.

Sam Carter, James Hume, David Shanahan and Craig Gilroy all got on the scoresheet for the visitors, but in truth Ulster were no match for the explosive running of the Cheetahs back-three, who notched six of their team’s nine tries, or indeed for a certain Ruan Pienaar, who effortlessly directed operations against his former team-mates and kicked 12 points.

The sole personnel changes from the Ulster side that put five tries past the Ospreys last week saw Clonmel-born Bill Johnston make his Ulster debut at out-half in place of the first round man-of-the-match, Billy Burns, and Eric O’Sullivan also came in as a late replacement at loosehead for Jack McGrath.

After a scrappy start from both sides with a lost lineout from Ulster and careless hands at pace from the hosts, the Cheetahs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession. They eventually caught out their opponents wide on the left, Anthonie Volmink eluding Matt Faddes and John Cooney for the try and Pienaar converting.

A Cheetahs offside soon brought Ulster a five-metre rolling maul, from which good ball retention edged the visitors ever closer to the line until another infringement saw the set piece reset. Yet, good hands in the maul from the South Africans prevented the ball from making its way back to Cooney, and possession was lost.

Ulster continued to press, and another offside was quick in coming, but determined defending from the Cheetahs gave the province insufficient time on the ball, and they were fortunate to get a scrum for a marginal knock-on. The orange and black defensive wall remained impenetrable, however, and Hume’s attempt to change things up with a kick towards the line failed to pay off.

As the Cheetahs took back control in the 21st minute, Volmink’s second try was all about pace, the winger leaving Carter for dead on halfway before wrong-footing the onrushing Faddes and outpacing Cooney to the line for a fine individual score, converted again by Pienaar.

The tries kept coming thick and fast, Ulster opening their account four minutes later thanks to a defence-splitting pass from O’Sullivan, a strong carry from Matthew Rea and the touchdown from Carter for a 14-7 scoreline.

Not to be outdone, Cheetahs full-back Rhyno Smith wasted little time from the restart in emulating Volmink’s spectacular second, as he bamboozled Rob Herring, Cooney, Faddes and Ulster debutant Johnston with a weaving diagonal run to score what is undoubtedly an early try of the season contender.

Eyeing up a bonus point before the break, the Cheetahs went for the driving maul from a 36th-minute penalty, and prolific hooker Jospeh Dweba – the scorer of a brace of tries against Glasgow in last week’s 48-14 home victory – rumbled over from the lineout drive to clinch it, Pienaar’s conversion rounding off a near-flawless half from the South Africans who now led 28-7.

Any hopes of an Ulster comeback were swiftly extinguished within two minutes of the restart, Volmink alertly intercepting a Faddes pass meant for Gilroy and darting over to complete a terrific hat-trick in front of the home fans.

Barely two minutes later the champagne rugby continued, Dries Swanepoel exposing a gap in the Ulster line and bursting through before supplying Smith with the cutest of offloads for try number six. Flanker Junior Pokomela and replacement Louis Fouche combined on the 50-minute mark for the seventh.

To Ulster’s credit, a spell of decent possession was capped by a Hume try just before the hour had elapsed. With Dweba yellow carded in the 63rd minute for cynically killing the ball, multiple Ulster replacements gelled well and scrum half Shanahan seized on a loose ball popping out of a five-metre scrum for to chalk up their latest try.

Replacement prop Reinach Venter took his side over the 50-point mark with the eighth try with little over 10 minutes remaining, but the Cheetahs were still not done, earning a 76th-minute penalty try after Ulster collapsed a scrum in front of the posts.

Gilroy nipped over with seconds remaining to ensure the Ulstermen left Bloemfontein with something to show for their efforts, but head coach Dan McFarland will be demanding much more from them in a week’s time when the South African tour comes to a close against the Isuzu Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.

Expressing his disappointment with the display afterwards, McFarland said: “There is always that possibility that if you play against the Cheetahs and you are not on top of your game that they will get away from you. That is exactly what happened to us.

“The bottom line is that the Cheetahs are playing well and they are on a roll. They’re coming off the back of eight games in winning the Currie Cup. They have got all of their players, apart from their tighthead prop, playing for them. It was an emotional night for them and Ruan Pienaar.

“So, I think that things were rolling in their favour, whereas for us we are at the start of our campaign, and we’ve got nine or 10 frontliners not playing. We knew how we needed to play today and we didn’t execute that. We were punished for that and they were the deserved winners.”