Jono Gibbes’ first match in charge of Ulster ended in a nine-try 59-10 hammering of the bottom-placed Southern Kings, with prolific wingers Craig Gilroy and Robert Lyttle grabbing three and two scores respectively.
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Seven conversions from John Cooney topped up further tries from Stuart McCloskey, Johnny McPhillips, Kieran Treadwell and Darren Cave as Ulster’s performance, while not perfect, showed better cohesion and illustrated a potent firepower.
The province remain third Conference B of the GUINNESS PRO14 on 45 points, eight behind provincial rivals Leinster and three ahead of Edinburgh who edged their way to a late 29-24 win over Leinster at Myreside tonight.
It was another historic occasion in Belfast for IRFU referee Joy Neville, the reigning World Rugby Referee of the Year. Back at Kingspan Stadium where she refereed the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup final, she reached another milestone by becoming the first female referee to take charge of a GUINNESS PRO14 match.
It follows on from Neville’s other trailblazing achievements in recent months where she refereed a men’s senior international between Norway and Demark in October, and the former Ireland Women’s captain was in the middle for Bordeaux-Begles v Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup in December, a game which entered her into the record books as the first woman to referee a European professional club fixture.
Ulster’s matchday squad for the resumption of the PRO14 contained no fewer than 10 full Ireland internationals despite absences due to the Six Nations and injury. Among the starters was centre Luke Marshall, making his first appearance since injuring his Achilles in October.
Marshall was joined in the back-line by full-back Charles Piutau, wingers Craig Gilroy, who had recovered from a broken cheekbone, and Robert Lyttle, centre McCloskey, and the half-back pairing of McPhillips, lining up for his first senior start, and Cooney.
Andrew Warwick, John Andrew and Wiehahn Herbst made up the front row, with captain for the night, Alan O’Connor, teaming with Treadwell in the second row, and a back row of flankers Matthew Rea and Sean Reidy either side of number 8 Nick Timoney.
The first half found the Ulstermen dominant if not rampant against the markedly inferior South Africans, Ireland international Gilroy the key man as he scored two tries and made another.
It was all Ulster straight from the off, Cooney and 20-year-old out-half McPhillips putting the visitors’ backs under pressure with high balls, with Gilroy the first to go over in the sixth minute off a fine pass from his scrum half.
The Kings soon settled into the game after an uneasy first 10 minutes had seen their penalty count rise to four, full-back Masixole Banda kicking their first points on the quarter hour mark. Yet, Ulster’s next attack proved even more profitable, McCloskey brushing off two tackles to ground the ball after Gilroy had cut in from his wing to good effect.
Louis Ludik joined the fray at the start of the second quarter, taking over at full-back from Piutau, the recipient of a heavy blow in a tackle, before another injury saw Reidy limp off, with the experienced Chris Henry coming on in his place.
Undeterred by the disruption, Ulster closed out the opening half with their third converted try for a 21-3 lead, Gilroy again the scorer after some more pinpoint passing from Cooney off the back of a rolling maul.
A mere two minutes of the second period were needed for Ulster to secure the bonus point, McPhillips capping an assured performance with a try after Gilroy and Marshall had combined at pace down the right wing.
McCloskey’s strength almost carried him over for his second moments later, but as the floodgates opened in the very next attack, the centre’s long pass found Lyttle hugging the left touchline, and the 21-year-old speedster did exceptionally well to stay in play as he resisted three tackles in his dive for the corner.
Try number six was all about the pace of McPhillips and Gilroy, the former starting the move deep in his own 22 and weaving his way to halfway, and the latter sprinting to the corner from Cooney’s pass for the hat-trick and his ninth try of the season.
Not to be outdone, Lyttle ran half the length of the field on the hour mark to claim his brace after an Ulster interception, but the moment proved bittersweet as the youngster appeared to suffer a strain in his final surge for the line, and limped off as Cooney shaped to strike the conversion.
The Kings grabbed an intercept try of their own with 10 minutes to play, replacement Harlon Klaasen finishing off the breakaway move, but Ulster still had enough in the tank for another two scores – Treadwell slid into the corner on 73 minutes before replacement Cave weaved in between the posts just under four minutes remaining.
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