Ulster 24

Cell C Sharks 21

Adam McKendry reports from Kingspan Stadium

IT NEARLY ALL went pear-shaped in the dying few minutes of the game but Ulster did enough and no more to secure a home quarter-final in the United Rugby Championship with a dramatic 24-21 win over the Cell C Sharks at Kingspan Stadium.

Leading by 17 points with four minutes left on the clock, Dan McFarland’s side contrived to concede two late scores to Marius Louw and Grant Williams to set up a tense finish as the visitors pressed for a win that would send them back to South Africa for the last-eight, but they couldn’t manage one more herculean effort.

Instead, a first-half try from Mike Lowry – who will be a significant injury doubt moving forward after coming off in the first-half – and second-half scores from the outstanding Stuart McCloskey and James Hume, plus a flawless kicking display from John Cooney, got Ulster over the line with little to spare.

Who they will play is a matter to be determined once the remaining round 18 fixtures have been completed on Saturday. The province have moved up to second for the time being but could still fall to fourth, but for now they will simply be relieved they have knockout rugby coming back to Belfast in two weeks’ time.

It had been comfortable for so long for Ulster, who kept the Sharks scoreless until the hour mark, and McFarland will naturally be concerned with how they nearly threw away a win that should have been locked up long before it was, but at this stage of the season results are all that matter.

It had been the visitors who started the brighter, with returning centre Lukhanyo Am looking threatening early on as he set up a chance for Aphelele Fassi and Werner Kok down the wing that was quelled by a Nick Timoney turnover, one of several in a man of the match performance, while Robert Baloucoune had a nervy moment as he spilled a Jaden Hendrikse box kick but survived as the visitors knocked on, too.

But it was McCloskey doing all the damage for Ulster and it was he who won the penalty that put them ahead for the first time, the centre catching Hendrikse being too slow at the base of a ruck and when the ball squirted loose it was a Shark who played it from an offside position and Cooney slotted the penalty.

Ulster's Rob Baloucoune is tackled by Aphelele Fassi and Makazole Mapimpi of the Cell C Sharks. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

And having threatened a few times with attempted cross-field kicks, it was through the boot that Billy Burns finally set up Lowry for the opening try as the fly-half found Ethan McIlroy with the angled kick and the winger danced inside and off-loaded for the full-back to crash over.

That would be one of his final acts, though, Lowry shipping a heavy hit in the act of tackling Fassi which forced him off shortly after Hume also took his leave with a head knock, and Ulster were glad to see a Curwin Bosch penalty drift wide just before the break.

Hume did return for the second half, but once again it was his centre partner who produced the goods with a stunning score just four minutes in.

Skipper Iain Henderson delivered the killer pass, faking the carry and popping it short to McCloskey on the edge of the Sharks’ 22, and the midfielder showed every ounce of his power and barged his way through two tackles and under the posts for an incredible seven-pointer.

It looked like that was game over, and even more so when Ulster bravely held out on their own line for a solid seven-minute stretch before Kieran Treadwell forced a knock-on from Hendrikse at the base of a ruck to keep the visitors scoreless as the clock ticked over to the hour mark.

But just as the danger appeared to be over, Cooney’s clearing kick from the scrum was charged down and when the penalty went the way of the Sharks for an offside call, replacement loosehead Ntuthuku Mchunu showed immense strength to power over straight off the tap-and-go.

Cell C Sharks' Aphelele Fassi and Ethan McIlroy of Ulster. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

If that signalled game on, then Hume’s try no more than two minutes later looked to be game over.

Ulster once again saw the opportunity out wide with the Sharks too narrow, Robert Baloucoune had the space down the touchline to make the break and he had Cooney on his inside who fed the centre for the walk-in try that put the result beyond any doubt.

Or so we thought. Even when Marius Louw was sent over the line from a fantastic Williams break off the back of a lineout it seemed like it was nothing more than consolation for the South Africans, and when Burns pinned them back at their five-metre line with just over a minute to play it seemed dead and buried.

And yet Williams set up the grandstand finish with an incredible solo run from inside his own half and over the line for the try that meant when Nathan Doak thumped the ball emphatically into the stand with the clock in the red, it was relief rather than jubilation that rang round Kingspan Stadium.

Ulster will be back here in two weeks’ time. They’ll hope it won’t be so close on that occasion – especially if it proves to be a rematch with the Sharks.

Ulster scorers:

Tries: Lowry, McCloskey, Hume

Cons: Cooney (3)

Pen: Cooney

Sharks scorers:

Tries: N Mchunu, Louw, Williams

Cons: Bosch, Chamberlain (2)

ULSTER:  Mike Lowry (Rob Lyttle 32); Robert Baloucoune, James Hume (Stewart Moore 31-40, 72), Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy; Billy Burns, John Cooney (Nathan Doak 79); (1-8) Andrew Warwick (Eric O’Sullivan 56), Rob Herring (John Andrew 76), Tom O’Toole (Gareth Milasinovich 56); Alan O’Connor (Kieran Treadwell 56), Iain Henderson; Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen (Matty Rea 66).

CELL C SHARKS: Aphelele Fassi; Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi; Curwin Bosch (Boeta Chamberlain 75), Jaden Hendrikse (Grant Williams 60); (1-8) Ox Nche (Ntuthuko Mchunu 60), Bongi Mbonambi (Kerron van Vuuren 66), Thomas du Toit (Khuta Mchunu 72); Ruben van Heerden, Reniel Hugo (Hyron Andrews 60); Siya Kolisi, Henco Venter (Sithumbuzo Notshe 66), Phepsi Buthelezi (Jeandre Labuschagne 75).

Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland) 

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