Ulster See Off Kings To Overtake Benetton In Conference Table

Ulster outscored the Isuzu Southern Kings by five tries to three this evening as they strengthened their claim on a GUINNESS PRO14 play-off place. The 33-19 bonus point win sees them bypass Benetton Rugby into second place in the Conference B table.

Tries from Stuart McCloskey, man-of-the-match Robert Lyttle, Marcell Coetzee, Robert Baloucoune and John Andrew secured maximum points for Dan McFarland’s side, and although the Kings were as threatening as ever going forward, Ulster never looked in danger of missing out on their second consecutive try-scoring bonus point.

With three tough matches to come in the final rounds of the PRO14’s regular season (away to Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh and then home to Leinster), the Ulstermen sit on 54 points with Benetton third on 50, Edinburgh fourth on 47, and the Scarlets, who were champions in 2017, also still in contention on 45.

Last night’s bonus point victory for Edinburgh over Leinster put pressure on the province to respond, and they had their foot on the gas straight from the first whistle. Hooker Rob Herring was unlucky to knock on just before the 22 after fine work from McCloskey down the left flank.

Louis Ludik and Marcell Coetzee, who was back for his first game since injurying his hamstring against Leicester Tigers in January, then made good ground against their South African compatriots in Ulster’s very next attack, which culminated in centre McCloskey riding three challenges to swivel his way over in the corner on seven minutes.

Unfortunately it was to prove Ludik’s last contribution to this round 18 encounter, as he limped off after a heavy blow to his leg sustained in the build-up to the score. He was replaced by 20-year-old talent Michael Lowry as out-half Billy Burns buried the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

After a protracted pause for treatment to Burns, who was, thankfully, able to continue, Ulster picked up where they had left off, with lively winger Lyttle touching down in the 14th minute after the fast-breaking Lowry had flummoxed the Kings defence with an exquisite change of direction in full flight.

Burns was on target once more with the conversion, before the attack-minded Kings suddenly forced their way back into contention with two quick-fire tries. The first one, a well-worked effort from prolific winger Yaw Penxe on 21 minutes, was followed five minutes later by a rather more fortuitous score from Ulrich Beyers.

The visitors’ full-back first appeared to have knocked on when collecting the final pass, only for the TMO review to show that the ball had in fact bounced forward off his chest and thigh but not his hands. Bader Pretorius’ conversion brought his side to within two points for a good 10 minutes until Coetzee marked his return with a muscular drive to the line after a strong Ulster rolling maul.

Burns knocked over his third conversion to give the hosts a 21-12 to take into the break, and with John Cooney an early second half replacement for David Shanahan and further changes seeing Tom O’Toole and Angus Kernohan coming on for the injured Martin Moore and Darren Cave, Ulster soon forced their way to the bonus point.

Seven minutes into the second period, Baloucoune applied the finishing touches after another well-executed rolling maul and fast hands across the breadth of the pitch from Cooney, Burns and Lyttle. Taking over the kicking duties, Cooney converted with the same accuracy as Burns had shown in the first half.

After a 15-minute lull during which the Kings enjoyed possession but proved unable to use it to any real effect, hooker Michael Willemse eventually sneaked through a gap in the Ulster rearguard in the 63rd minute on the back of some sustained mauling close to the line. However, just a few minutes later, a red and a yellow card respectively for centre Tertius Kruger and replacement hooker Alandre van Rooyen left the South African outfit in all sorts of trouble.

Kruger was sent-off for a dangerous shoulder to the jaw of Baloucoune in a late no-arms tackle, and van Rooyen saw yellow for a swinging arm which made contact with the head of Cooney in an attempted tackle. The second offence was adjudged to be less serious by referee Lloyd Linton as the scrum half was on his way to ground as the challenge was made.

Both Ulster players were able to play on unscathed, and the hosts went on to secure their fifth try with five minutes remaining thanks to strong mauling from Andrew, who was not long on the pitch in place of Herring. The province’s attention now turns to next Saturday’s mouth-watering Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final trip to Dublin to face Leinster.

Giving his reaction after the game, Ulster head coach McFarland said: “We were a little bit disjointed today – three weeks off and it looked like we had three weeks off. We turned the ball over in the first half seven times, for us that is very uncharacteristic.

“Our ruck performances so far this season, or certainly in the second two-thirds of what we have played so far have been excellent, and today that was the worst performance in terms of ruck and keeping hold of the ball that we have had in three or four months.

“That is a little disappointing because when we went to the Ospreys after a little bit of a break I thought we were excellent, we managed to nil them over there. For some reason, we were not great today. We had a couple of fellas playing who had not played as much recently, and just getting the ground under their boots for the first time in a while – that might have led to a little bit of lacking in energy.

“But that is only natural that would happen with anybody at any time. We will look at that, we will be better for it. Apart from the potential for the injuries we’ll be in a good place going into (Europe) next week. I think you have to pay Leinster a lot of respect, and you want to pay them a lot of respect.

“What they’ve done consistently over the last number of years is impressive. They’re well coached, there’s a lot of guys who work very hard for their province and when the chips are down they produce the goods. For us, that’s a brilliant challenge to have.”