Errors Prove Costly As Ulster Succumb To Scarlets

Ulster slumped to a 22-12 defeat at the hands of the Scarlets in their first away trip of the 2015/16 GUINNESS PRO12 campaign, paying the price for a succession of errors during the round 2 fixture.

Although a fine Rory Scholes try and another outstanding display from Stuart McCloskey went some way to sparing the visitors’ blushes, poor handling and a lack of cohesion frustrated Neil Doak’s men particularly in the first half, and they failed to take advantage of 30 minutes’ worth of numerical superiority as the Scarlets had three men yellow carded.

The Scarlets, hot on the heels of a victory away to reigning champions Glasgow Warriors in round 1, dashed into an early lead courtesy of a second minute penalty from Daniel Jones. Although Ulster bossed successive set pieces with Franco van der Merwe dominant, only a last-gasp tackle from Scholes on Tom Williams prevented the winger from scoring by the corner flag on 14 minutes, the challenge just dragging him into touch before he grounded.

Three more points soon followed from Jones’ boot and as Ulster failed to mount any significant offensive threat, a collapsed maul presented the out-half with a simple kick to extend the lead to 9-0 with 24 minutes played.

McCloskey, so impressive against the Ospreys, drove Ulster’s first meaningful foray into the Scarlets 22 just before the half hour mark. Although the move broke down through an eventual Luke Marshall knock-on, a subsequent penalty to touch got Ulster back into the attacking zone with a promising lineout.

However, another elementary error left Ulster red-faced, as this time a forward pass from Roger Wilson as he sought to pick out Nick Williams put paid to the move. Better news came for Ulster just before the break as Peter Edwards was sent to the sin-bin for the Scarlets’ second no-arms tackle in as many minutes, but McCloskey’s errant penalty attempt brought a highly forgettable half for the visitors to a close.

Perhaps over-keen to capitalise early on their numerical advantage, more mistakes from Ulster – a restart straight into touch from Peter Nelson and an infringement from debutant lock Peter Browne as he went off his feet to retrieve possession – added to the visitors’ frustration.

An off-target penalty from Jones on 43 minutes proved only a temporary reprieve, as Hadleigh Parkes touched down moments later in the corner after Jones’ long range pass and Gareth Owen’s quick-fire lay-off had cut out half-a-dozen defenders.

The conversion dispatched, Edwards returned to the pitch with his side seven points better off than before his sin-binning, but as Ulster finally looked to have found their rhythm, another card – this time for captain John Barclay as he came in from the side – set the wheels in motion for winger Scholes’ try in the 54th minute.

Picking up from Paul Marshall off the scrum, the auburn-haired winger showed strength reminiscent of McCloskey in his opening day try against the Ospreys to batter away four tackles and weave his way over to score out wide.

Although Jones added a fourth successful penalty just past the hour mark, Ulster came close again moments later, Scholes pouncing on a high ball fumble from full-back Steffan Evans, only to knock on himself under Tom Williams’ textbook tackle as he hared for the line.

With ten minutes left on the clock, another well-worked lineout got Ulster to within two metres of the line only for Barclay to infringe again. Another rolling maul from the penalty brought further impediment – this time from replacement George Earle – and the award of the penalty try, with Earle the third Scarlet to see yellow.

McCloskey converted to bring the deficit down to 19-12, but with Nelson penalised for holding on too long in the tackle in front of his own posts with two minutes to go, replacement out-half Aled Thomas stepped up to put the result – and the possibility of a losing bonus point – out of Ulster’s reach.