Ulster improved after a poor first half display at BT Murrayfield, but late tries from debutant Aaron Cairns and fellow replacement Jacob Stockdale failed to salvage a losing bonus point against a dynamic Edinburgh side.
Three tries in the first 45 minutes from the Scots threatened to annihilate the visitors, and although Ulster rallied in the final quarter with their replacements impressing in particular, both the performance and result only add to a disappointing recent run for the province.
Depleted through injuries and international commitments, the Ulster back-line had an unfamiliar look with rare starts for Sam Windsor at centre, Brett Herron at out-half and last week’s try-scoring replacement Robert Lyttle on the wing. More experienced heads in the form of full-back Charles Piutau, winger Tommy Bowe, centre Luke Marshall and scrum half Ruan Pienaar completed the line.
Tighthead prop Wiehahn Herbst and lock Dan Tuohy retained their places up front after making their first appearances of the season against Munster, with Kyle McCall and captain Rob Herring completing the front row, and Franco van der Merwe partnering Tuohy in the engine room. Peter Browne moved to the back row, with Clive Ross on the other flank and Sean Reidy at number 8.
Barely two minutes were on the clock when promising Fijian flanker Viliame Mata picked up on the Ulster 22 and brushed off tackles from Marshall and Bowe to power through for a fine individual try, converted by Jason Tovey.
Smarting from their round 7 home loss to Zebre, Edinburgh pressed high and fast, giving Ulster no time on the ball in defence and eventually wrestling back possession for winger Damien Hoyland to ground in the corner on nine minutes.
A long range penalty from full-back Blair Kinghorn compounded the Ulster misery on 17 minutes, as did surrendered possession at their own maul in their first foray into Edinburgh territory moments later.
A Pienaar penalty which opened the visitors’ account was soon cancelled out by Duncan Weir, temporarily on for the injured Tovey, and the former Glasgow Warrior added another on 35 minutes just before the first choice out-half returned to the pitch.
Pienaar eschewed a further three points a minute from half-time, tapping a penalty and spreading play wide left at pace to Marshall, only for Windsor to handle the ball in an offside position and bring a miserable first half for Ulster to a fittingly dismal end.
Multiple changes at the break seemed to invigorate the Ulstermen as they tried to eat into their 21-3 deficit. A trademark diagonal line break from Bowe was an early highlight, but it soon proved a red herring as Cornell du Preez somehow spun through the entire Ulster defence from the back of his own scrum and exploited the space for Magnus Bradbury to score after a litany of missed tackles.
Better from Ulster soon saw Bowe cross the try-line but fail to ground as the Edinburgh defence held him up. Then the resulting five-metre scrum ended in similarly frustrating fashion for Les Kiss’ men as TMO Gareth Simmons ruled out a Piutau try for a decidedly borderline knock-on as he grounded from Pienaar’s clever chip.
Pushing for the bonus point, only dogged maul defence from Browne prevented the fourth Edinburgh try on 61 minutes before a lengthy stoppage for a serious-looking knee injury to prop Ross Kane.
Promising back Aaron Cairns came on for his debut during the pause, and grabbed a well-taken try moments later as he did well to judge the bounce from fellow replacement Paul Marshall’s kick and score with his first touch.
Pienaar converted and, with Ulster at last performing somewhere near their potential, another replacement – this time Stockdale – burst through a tiring Edinburgh defence off Herring’s pass on 72 minutes for a fine score.
Eleven points adrift still (28-17), Ulster probed through Lyttle and Stockdale on the wings but a refocused Edinburgh slowed the pace down in open play and at set pieces to ensure Kiss and his players went home entirely empty-handed.
Ulster have two weeks now to regroup before their next PRO12 outing against Zebre at Kingspan Stadium on Friday, November 25.
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