Rugby

Ulster steam-rolled by ruthless Saracens

Saracens players celebrate after Billy Vunipola scored their bonus point try in Friday&rsquo;s Champions Cup win over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">								</span>&nbsp; &nbsp;
Saracens players celebrate after Billy Vunipola scored their bonus point try in Friday’s Champions Cup win over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium     Saracens players celebrate after Billy Vunipola scored their bonus point try in Friday’s Champions Cup win over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium    

European Rugby Champions Cup: Ulster 9 Saracens 27

ULSTER made a bitterly disappointing start to their Champions Cup campaign when they conceded 22 unanswered points in the second half in going down 27-9 to English champions Saracens in atrocious conditions at Kingspan Stadium last night.

To make matters worse, Saracens’ four try haul earned them a bonus point which could prove costly as Ulster try to defy the odds and make it out of their pool.

Les Kiss’s side had led 9-0 after 26 minutes and 9-5 at half-time after making a promising start but Saracens emerged deserving winners.

England fly-half Owen Farrell, who like his team, had made a disappointing start to the game as he missed three kicks, turned out to be the architect-in-chief of his side’s success when he brilliantly set up the decisive try in the 65th minute to kill the game off as a contest.

The game exploded into life after only four minutes when Sarries flanker Michael Rhodes was sent to the bin for tackling Andrew Trimble when the Ireland winger was in the air fielding a high ball.

The home crowd – mindful of Jared Payne’s red card for a similar incident in the 2013 Heineken Cup quarter-final between the sides –  were baying for blood but referee Romain Poite settled for yellow.


Ruan Pienaar was unable to land the resulting penalty from a difficult position close to the touchline and three minutes inside the opposition half as his kick fell short.

Paddy Jackson had a chance to exploit the man-advantage in the 13th minute and he succeeded with the penalty from virtually under the posts to open the scoring.

Eight minutes later with the referee signalling a penalty advantage, Jackson dropped a goal to double the lead. Jackson added another three-pointer in the 26th minute before Saracens burst into life when, Chris Wyles went over in the corner. Farrell missed the conversion.

Trailing 9-5 at the break, it was Saracens who were the quicker out of the blocks at the start of the second half as they put Ulster on the back-foot with their dominance up front which resulted in the concession of two penalties for collapsing the scrum.

The hosts looked to have earned some respite when Billy Vunipola was sent to the bin in the 55th minute for a no-arms tackle on Iain Henderson after a marauding run from the Ireland back-row forward.

However, Ulster were unable to make the extra man count and instead it was Mark McCall’s side that scored the two match-winning tries while the England number eight was off the pitch.

A brilliant off-load by Scottish international centre Duncan Taylor on the hour mark after he had chased a kick-ahead set up an easy chance for full-back Alex Goode and this time Farrell made no mistake with the conversion as his team led for the first time in the match.

Five minutes later a superb dummy and scything run from Farrell who aborted a drop goal attempt allowed Taylor to touch down for an unconverted try to make it 17-9.

Farrell knocked over a penalty in the 74th minute and to complete a miserable night for the home team they conceded the fourth try when Billy Vunipola rumbled over.