Stellar rugby from Stuart Olding lit up a dark and gloomy Kingspan Stadium as two tries and a man-of-the-match performance from the youngster got Ulster back to winning ways with a 23-6 triumph over the Dragons.
An injury-time try from replacement prop Declan Fitzpatrick added to Stuart Olding’s fine scores along with six points from Paddy Jackson and two from Ian Humphreys, as Ulster – minus most of their Irish international contingent – looked comfortable throughout against the ninth-placed Dragons.
Young winger Peter Nelson’s (pictured below) inclusion for his first appearance of the current campaign was one of seven personnel changes implemented by Ulster head coach Neil Doak after last Saturday’s Champions Cup defeat to Toulon.
There was an all-new centre partnership of Darren Cave and Stuart McCloskey, Callum Black and Rob Herring came in to wear the number one and two jerseys respectively, and the province lined out with an unfamiliar flanker pairing of Clive Ross and New Zealander Sean Reidy – the latter making his competitive debut for the province.
Elsewhere, Olding and Louis Ludik showed their versatility as they featured at full-back and right wing respectively, while Paul Marshall and Jackson continued at half-back.
In the pack, Wiehahn Herbst was again selected at tighthead prop, Lewis Stevenson and Franco van der Merwe retained their places in the second row and Roger Wilson captained the side from the base of the scrum.
Pounding rain in south Belfast did little to hamper Ulster’s fluency as five minutes of excellent ball retention straight from the off put the Dragons under sustained pressure, culminating in a penalty which Jackson elected to kick to touch.
With Robbie Diack an early replacement for the injured Wilson, enterprising runs from both McCloskey and Marshall served as a marker of Ulster’s intent, before a sharp kick from Olding just eluded Cave’s lunge as it crossed the visitors’ try-line on 15 minutes.
Next to raise the Kingspan Stadium roof was Ludik, ghosting past five or six would-be tacklers in midfield before he was brought to ground, and with the Dragons offering next to nothing in terms of attacking threat, Ulster took a deserved lead courtesy of a Jackson’s 25th-minute penalty.
Just before the half hour Cave engaged in his second sprint of the evening to the Dragons’ whitewash as he chased Reidy’s punt forward and although the centre was just outpaced once again, Jackson added a further penalty as play was brought back for a Dragons offside.
Olding, already heavily involved in the match in his role at full-back, showed all his credentials as an international-class centre in the 32nd minute as he ran the perfect angle to pick up from Cave outside the Welsh side’s 22, and forced his way through several tackles for a fine individual try – his fifth in 22 PRO12 appearances.
With Jackson’s conversion striking the post, Ulster failed to extend to their 11-0 lead before the break. Indeed, there was just enough time for Dragons out-half Angus O’Brien to open his side’s account with a penalty, and for Ludik to join Wilson in the treatment room, as a knock saw him replaced by Ricky Andrew.
Poor handling of a slippery ball put the Dragons right back under pressure early in the second period, and as Ulster probed after securing the ball from their own scrum, Olding was again in the right place at the right time to collect McCloskey’s palmed pass and dive in at the right corner for his second score.
After another wayward conversion attempt from Jackson, persistent pressing from the Dragons in midfield earned O’Brien a second penalty which reduced the gap to 16-6.
With two more tries and a bonus point foremost in their thoughts, Ulster pressed on as the clock approached the 70-minute mark, but poor control from Andrew, fellow replacement Humphreys and Marshall in the space of three minutes put paid to a series of promising moves.
A well-directed penalty to touch from Humphreys on 72 minutes amounted to nothing as the Dragons pinched possession at the subsequent lineout maul, but better organisation by Ulster a minute later from the same position got Reidy to within a metre of a debut try, only to be outmuscled by Aled Brew as he homed in on the whitewash.
Ulster closed out the game deep in the visitors’ 22, battling to give the game a scoreline which fairly reflected the dominance they had enjoyed. Their persistence paid off in the 81st minute, with Fitzpatrick (pictured below) seizing Black’s short pass five metres from the line to power over for the third try.
Humphreys converted with the last kick of the match to cement a 17-point victory which reinstates Ulster in third place in the PRO12 table, as the league now takes a three-week break for the November internationals.
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