Ulster Stretch Unbeaten Home Run To 18 Matches

Tonight’s sold-out Kingspan Stadium crowd were served up a festive treat with all the trimmings as Ulster put five tries past provincial rivals Connacht in a runaway 35-3 derby win.

Alan O’Connor, Billy Burns, Robert Baloucoune, Rob Herring and Nick Timoney all touched down for the Ulstermen who also benefited from a man-of-the-match performance by Sean Reidy.

Dan McFarland’s men, who led 14-3 at half-time, were as impressive in defence as they were in attack, restricting the westerners to a lone Conor Fitzgerald penalty and soaking up incredible pressure at the end of the first half.

For Connacht head coach Andy Friend, whose side have fallen down to fourth in Conference B, it was a case of what might have been as their assault on the Ulster line – racking up over 30 phases – could have closed the gap to 14-10.

Acknowledging their positive shares of possession (56%) and territory (55%), he said: “We put ourselves in a good position just before half-time and we didn’t have the firepower to get across. That hurt us. We burnt a lot of fuel there for no reward.

“We went in at half-time 14-3 and we spoke about it, but you saw the Ulster crowd and their changing room must have been buoyed because they came out in the second half and put another 14 points on us in the next 10-12 minutes.

“That was a crucial part of the game and we need to look at that and see how we can be better there. It’s options, it’s collision lines, it’s speed of support. It’s a whole range of things there.

“That’s something we need to have a look at because we had possession in the right positions, we just couldn’t get over the line.”

In contrast, the five points gained  see Ulster consolidate their second place in Conference A on 31 points, still seven behind unbeaten leaders Leinster but a clear ten ahead of the third-placed Toyota Cheetahs.

Ulster boss McFarland commented: “You’ve got to be happy with (scoring five tries) but we also look at how we go about stuff and we’d be a little bit disappointed because we feel with the amount of pressure we had out there we should have scored more tries.

“We made a few mistakes on the edge that could cost us next week, and we obviously lost a few lineouts there, so we shipped a lot of possession and turned a lot of possession over that we shouldn’t have done.

“However, we scored in multiple ways. We scored through multiple phases and there was a potency to our attack. We ended up scoring five tries against them so you’ve got to be pretty pleased with that.”

Will Addison, who was fizzing with intent on his return, and Baloucoune needed little time to make their presence felt, combining down the right wing during the opening minutes. The full-back showed deft work in collecting his own chip but his try-scoring pass to the winger was ruled forward.

Connacht responded with their talismanic scrum half and stand-in captain Caolin Blade being just held up over the line on nine minutes as Baloucoune and Matthew Rea denied him an early try.

Unable to prise the Ulster rearguard apart in the next handful of phases, Connacht opted for the posts when a penalty eventually came, and Blade’s half-back partner Fitzgerald opened the scoring from close range with twelve minutes gone.

The hosts turned down the points when a penalty came their way minutes later, and although Kieran Treadwell’s lineout take slipped from his grasp, his second row partner O’Connor was the quickest-thinking man on the pitch, pouncing on a spill from Robin Copeland to bundle over for a try.

John Cooney converted and soon dispatched his second place-kick of the evening after Burns had finished off a terrific attacking move, launched by an aerial take from Louis Ludik and some lightning-quick passing from the Addison – Baloucoune the tandem once again.

The score came at a price, however, with Marcell Coetzee removed with a head injury after a shuddering collision in the build-up, only minutes before experienced back-three operator Ludik also succumbed to a knock.

Buoyed by some smashing set piece play – locks Ultan Dillane and Joe Maksymiw continued to get the better of their opposite numbers – Connacht began to edge their way into the game as the interval approached.

However, some stubborn defence from Ulster on their own goal-line kept five minutes’ worth of pressure at bay. Although captain Herring was sin-binned for failing to roll away, his side held out with Stephen Fitzgerald spilling a cross-field kick from his younger brother Conor.

Still a man down for the first seven minutes of the second period, Ulster decided the best form of defence was attack, and needed barely four minutes to increase their lead, Baloucoune applying the finishing touches after more fancy footwork from Addison had flummoxed the Connacht defence.

Sniffing blood – and now back up to 15 men – Ulster went in for the kill in the 49th minute, Herring heralding his return to the field with a classic hooker’s try, powering over the whitewash off the back of a rolling maul to seal the bonus point.

Moving into the final quarter, Ulster edged patiently downfield in search of try number five, their cause aided by a yellow card for Connacht hooker Shane Delahunt for repeated infringements by the westerners.

The final score of this interprovincial clash did not come until Delahunt had returned to the pitch late on, the strong-running Timoney bulldozing through the defensive line to go in behind the posts with 76 minutes on the clock.