Guinness PRO12: Ulster 23 Connacht 7
ULSTER moved up into fourth place in the PRO12 table after a hard-fought 23-7 win over Connacht at a blustery Kingspan Stadium last night as the western province’s 60-year winless run in Belfast continued.
It was by no means a flawless display in difficult conditions, but Ulster won’t be complaining as they will head to Dublin for their next game against Leinster on New Year’s Eve in confident mood.
Ulster, playing into the elements in the first-half, started brightly, stealing possession at the first scrum of the game, allowing Stuart McCloskey to embark on an enterprising run for Charles Piutau to offload to Jakob Stockdale, who was held up.
Connacht were on the back foot for most of the opening quarter but defended well and, on several occasions, forced Ulster into conceding penalties when in offensive positions.
With the prospect of playing into the stiff breeze in the second-half, Ulster really needed to translate their possession into points and they did just that in the 21st minute.
Fly-half Paddy Jackson made no mistake with a relatively straightforward penalty – Ulster’s first of the game – from just outside the 22 metre line to secure the opening points of the game.
Worse was to follow for the western province in the 27th minute when Ulster scored the opening try of the night and what a glorious effort it was.
Piutau’s superb break was instrumental in enabling Ruan Pienaar to set up a two-on-one situation and he fed McCloskey who dotted down with ease to celebrate his 50th appearance for the province.
Jackson added the extras from a similar position to his opening penalty as Ulster seized the initiative and a 10-0 lead.
The Ireland number ten then added another penalty in the 37th minute after Tiernan O’Halloran had gifted Ulster possession from a scrum when the Connacht full-back had spilled a kick from Pienaar and knocked on.
Connacht threatened to cross the Ulster line seconds before the interval after good work by Kieran Marmion but the hosts breathed a sigh of relief when the referee, awarded a penalty for an infringement by the scrum-half.
The roles were reversed four minutes into the second-half when Ulster’s number nine, Pienaar, uncharacteristically coughed up possession close to the try-line and Connacht cleared the danger when a score had looked likely.
After another great break by Piutau, who displayed some nifty footwork in a jinking run, Pienaar kicked ahead but Marmion got back to smother the ball on the line to deny Ulster a try in the 49th minute.
Pienaar continued the be in the thick of things and he was then denied a try by the television match official when he was unable to get the touch down as Ulster continued to turn the screw.
But Ulster didn’t have to wait long for their second try, Pienaar slipping a pass to flanker Clive Ross who barged over down for his first touchdown for the province, Jackson converting to make it 20-0 in the 53rd minute.
However, Connacht replied within three minutes when Jack Carty went over after an incisive move and added the conversion himself to give the visitors fresh hope with the wind behind them.
The PRO12 champions had plenty of possession thereafter but it was Jackson who stretched the Ulster lead to 23-7 with another penalty in the 68th minute and that was that.
In last night’s other game, Treviso beat Zebre 23-12.
