Ulster 29

Scarlets 5

Adam McKendry reports from Kingspan Stadium

IN ASSESSING HOW Ulster comfortably dispatched the Scarlets for their third bonus point win of the season, you have to split the game into two distinct halves.

The first half was exceptional, Ulster showcasing the kind of accuracy in attack and precision that head coach Dan McFarland has been crying out for over the last few weeks as they seared to a try bonus point inside the opening half an hour.

Matt Faddes, John Cooney, Matty Rea and Robert Baloucoune all powered over for scores as the province put the hapless Welsh province to the sword and ensured that they would get the maximum haul from the tie, and it looked like they would ram home their dominance in the second half.

Only it never came, and that will leave the side with just as many questions from their display as positives from their scintillating first 30 minutes. Indeed, the remaining 50 minutes of the contest ended in a dour 5-5 draw.

At the end of the day, however, it is another win for Ulster, who have won seven of their nine games this season and have consolidated their place in second of Conference A of the Guinness Pro14, which will be a great relief heading into the second European break.

The game started very much as it meant to go on as Ulster had two of their tries in the bag by the time the clock had ticked over into the ninth minute, and it was no less than they deserved.

Stuart McCloskey dropped the kick in behind for Faddes to race onto and dot down for the first, with Cooney then adding their second when he picked and went off the back of Baloucoune being held just shy of the line after Bill Johnston’s expert cross-field kick.

The maul accounted for the third 10 minutes later and it yielded a maiden Ulster try for Ballymena flanker Rea as the Irish province continued to keep up with the clock in terms of early scoring.

And although Faddes was denied a second of the night when he put a foot in touch prior to chasing down his own kick and scoring, Ulster’s relentless offensive pressure yielded the bonus point try before the half-hour mark as McCloskey drilled a skip pass to Baloucoune for the finish in the corner.

Indeed, it could have been even worse for the Scarlets, who had barely fired a warning shot in the first half let alone anything resembling a wounding blow, as they were forced to play out a sin-bin to flanker Uzair Cassiem for repeated infringements which, ironically, they didn’t concede on.

But having played so well in the first half, the second was practically the opposite from Ulster, who could barely string two passes together.

It wasn’t helped that they pulled Cooney and Marcell Coetzee adrift after 50 minutes, which impacted their fluidity, but the offensive prowess of the first half was practically non-existent in the second as the game meandered limply to the end.

In fairness to Ulster, they did produce a moment of defensive excellence as the Welsh region threatened to end the whitewash just after the hour mark, stopping a maul at source before holding out superbly as the Scarlets attacked in waves, eventually winning the turnover.

But their hopes of holding the Scarlets to nil were nixed when Craig Gilroy saw yellow for a high tackle on Ryan Conbeer and Jac Morgan powered his way over in the corner for the visitors’ only score of the game.

Ulster would have the final say, however, and Faddes went over in the corner for the final score thanks to a nice delayed pass by Angus Curtis to at least ensure the second half would be tied.

Ulster scorers:

Tries: Matt Faddes [2], John Cooney, Matty Rea, Robert Baloucoune

Conversions: Cooney [2 from 4]

Scarlets scorers:

Try: Jac Morgan

ULSTER: Louis Ludik (Angus Kernohan ’66); Robert Baloucoune, Matt Faddes, Stuart McCloskey, Craig Gilroy; Bill Johnston (Angus Curtis ’72), John Cooney (David Shanahan ’51); Eric O’Sullivan (Andrew Warwick ’66), Rob Herring (Adam McBurney ’51), Marty Moore (Tom O’Toole ’59); Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell; Matty Rea (David O’Connor ’72), Sean Reidy, Marcell Coetzee (Nick Timoney ’51).
Yellow card: Craig Gilroy (70′)

SCARLETS: Steff Evans; Corey Baldwin, Steffan Hughes, Paul Asquith, Morgan Williams (Ryan Conbeer ’62); Dan Jones (Ryan Lamb ’40), Kieran Hardy (Jonathan Evans ’48); Phil Price (Dylan Evans ’51), Ryan Elias, Samson Lee (Werner Kruger ’59); Lewis Rawlins (Steve Cummins ’35), Sam Lousi (Marc Jones 66); Uzair Cassiem, Josh Macleod (Jac Morgan ’62), Blade Thomson.
Yellow card: Uzair Cassiem (28)

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

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