Ulster Win As Gilroy Marks Century With Two Tries

Four tries in the final 12 minutes blew away Benetton Treviso at Kingspan Stadium tonight as Ulster’s youngest ever centurion Craig Gilroy bagged a brace in a 43-3 bonus point victory.

Also on target were Michael Allen and replacements Stuart McCloskey and Andrew Warwick, with a penalty try and 13 points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar completing the rout in Belfast.

The bonus point victory moves the Ulstermen up to joint-top in the GUINNESS PRO12 table, albeit with fellow chasers Glasgow Warriors, Leinster and Munster still to play over the weekend.

The game marked two personal milestones for Ulster players, as winger Craig Gilroy made his 100th appearance for the province, and prop Warwick grabbed his first try in Ulster colours.

The visitors – shorn of half a team of first choice regulars due to international commitments – started brightly, with two searching kicks towards the right wing in the first five minutes testing the legs of the Ulster defence.

Although several well-managed set pieces followed, Treviso failed to exert any real pressure on the Ulster 22 and a poor kick straight to touch from out-half Joe Carlisle ceded possession on 12 minutes.

Ulster made better use of the ball after Treviso had infringed at a five-metre scrum, Pienaar slotting over a close range penalty to open the scoring. The Italians were then extremely fortunate when Ulster just failed to get hands on their poorly-thrown lineout which dropped in no man’s land on the verge of the Treviso 22.

However, a dynamic central break from Darren Cave on 25 minutes set up Allen’s try, finished off with a neat sidestep from the youngster off an Ian Humphreys pass.

Pienaar converted for a 10-0 lead and picking up straight from the restart, Gilroy showed exactly the form which has made him Ulster’s youngest centurion at 23, outpacing five Italians in his own half before launching a high kick-and-chase over the heads of the onrushing defenders. As the ball bounced backwards into Gilroy’s path, luck shone on Dean Budd, who just managed to seize it back as the winger attempted to take control for a certain try.

Playing with much better fluency now after their slow start, Ulster battered the Treviso defence all the way until half-time, but failed to clock up any more points for their efforts – with Pienaar even missing a straightforward penalty on the whistle, as his kick rebounded off the upright and back into play.

Treviso enjoyed a prolonged spell of possession again as the second period opened, but once more proved wasteful. Oonce Pienaar had pinched the ball at a 46th minute scrum, only a severe over-throw from Gilroy as Luke Marshall broke down the right wing denied try number two.

Ulster continued to press, however, and after two rolling mauls had failed to bear fruit, quick ball from the backs and an improvised kick on from Marshall as Italian captain Antonio Pavanello deliberately knocked on looked to have given Lewis Stevenson his very first try in Ulster colours. However, TMO Alan Rogan adjudged the lock to have been in an offside position and the try was ruled out – with Pavanello’s yellow card scant consolation.

After replacement lock Tomas Vallejos joined his skipper in the sin-bin for deliberate obstruction, Ulster, with Robbie Diack and McCloskey now on the pitch, pulverised the Italian scrum on the hour mark. Expert dribbling from stand-in captain Roger Wilson, at the base, eventually forced the penalty try as Treviso desperately tried to put off the inevitable.

Pienaar added the extras and although Carlisle opened the visitors’ account with a 66th minute penalty, the Ulster machine rolled on with a third try two minutes later, McCloskey marking his return with a score by the right corner flag after a fine long pass from Humphreys.

The conversion dispatched, Ulster had exactly 10 minutes to secure the bonus point, but needed only two as Gilroy grounded emphatically in the corner from Mike McComish’s pass after close calls for both the flanker and Franco van der Merwe in the build-up.

Pienaar’s conversion drifted just wide, but it mattered little as Ulster inflicted two more tries on the Italians – the first from Warwick off fellow replacement Peter Nelson’s pass, and the second an intercept score from man-of-the-match Gilroy.

Two late conversions from the South African scrum half brought the Ulster tally to 43, their highest return of the season, and a telling indicator of the province’s firepower in advance of two more ‘must win’ February PRO12 ties – away to Edinburgh on Friday week (February 20) and at home to the Scarlets the following Friday (February 27).