A bonus point victory for Ulster over high-flying Glasgow Warriors secured at least a Champions Cup qualification play-off spot, while keeping alive their outside chance of squeezing into the GUINNESS PRO14 final series.
Sixteen first half points from John Cooney were topped up by a second half try from Sean Reidy and two from rising star Nick Timoney, who snatched the bonus point in the dying seconds to take Ulster out of reach of fifth-placed Benetton Rugby with one round to play.
Ulster sit fourth in Conference B on 60 points, four behind Edinburgh who play Glasgow next weekend. Should Ulster pick up another bonus point win in their final round fixture against Munster at Thomond Park, and Edinburgh fail to register any points in their Scottish derby, Jono Gibbes’ men will qualify for the PRO14’s final series as their conference’s third-place finishers.
This rescheduled round 17 match at Kingspan Stadium was made even more momentous by the fact that it marked the final home PRO14 appearance of several Ulster legends before retirement – Paul Marshall and Tommy Bowe said their goodbyes tonight, as well as another fan favourite, Sparky the mascot.
Four changes up front and one to the back-line brought in Andrew Warwick at loosehead, Rob Herring at hooker, Alan O’Connor at lock and TImoney at flanker, while Luke Marshall replaced fellow Ireland international Darren Cave in the centre.
Tighthead Ross Kane lined up with Warwick and Herring to complete the front row, with Kieran Treadwell, a late replacement for new father Iain Henderson, starting in the second row, and Reidy teaming up with Timoney and Jean Deysel in the back row.
Charles Piutau started at full-back, with Louis Ludik and Jacob Stockdale on the wings and Stuart McCloskey, the eventual man-of-the-match, occupying the other midfield berth. The burgeoning half-back partnership of Johnny McPhillips and Cooney was given another run-out.
A bright start from Ulster was rewarded with a successful fourth-minute penalty from scrum half Cooney, the leading scorer in the Championship this year both in terms of points (144 at kick-off tonight) and penalties scored (27).
A hasty lineout throw from Glasgow close to their own try-line then led to the concession of a five-metre penalty thanks to high pressing from the Ulstermen, and it proved costly for the visitors as Cooney again picked up from the base and darted over for the try, which he duly converted.
Ulster soon lost South African Deysel to injury, replaced by Clive Ross, before Finn Russell’s penalty opened the Scots’ account in the 18th minute. The three points were soon followed by a try from flanker Callum Gibbins, after hooker Fraser Brown had bulldozed right through the heart of the Ulster defence.
The Russell conversion made it honours even at 10-all, and with the Warriors now in the ascendancy, a good 10 minutes of pressure put the Ulster defence to the test until a crunching tackle from Piutau on Tommy Seymour saw the former Ulster winerg spill the ball and relinquish possession.
As play swung back in the province’s favour, a fantastic free-flowing move started down the left wing by Piutau ended on the opposite flank with Marshall just being dragged into touch a few metres from the whitewash. An earlier Glasgow infringement in the build-up, however, presented Cooney with the first of two successive penalties to send his side off at the break 16-10 to the good.
The Ulstermen came out for the second half with Paul Marshall on in place of Cooney for his final home appearance, but Glasgow did not hesitate to rain on the scrum half’s parade as Gibbins soon grabbed his second try off a clinical rolling maul.
The game’s see-saw motion continued as a fine aerial take by Piutau set up a series of phases which ended with Stockdale and McCloskey combining well on the left flank, and Timoney brushing aside two tackles to just stretch over for the try.
McPhillips, now entrusted with kicking duties, dispatched his conversion just as crisply as Cooney had kicked earlier, but missed with his next attempt just on the hour mark after Reidy had pirouetted over the line for try number three from Paul Marshall’s assist.
A 68th minute penalty from McPhillips made the result safe, leaving Ulster with sufficient time to go hunting for the bonus point that would keep their slender PRO14 play-off aspirations alive. Bowe joined the cause moments later to rapturous applause, and when the next penalty came McPhillips this time went for touch.
Two well-drilled rolling mauls failed to get Ulster over the line however, and the chance eventually evaporated with the home side penalised for holding on too long in the tackle.
A poor pass from Stuart Hogg to winger Lelia Masaga, which flew directly into touch, created one final opportunity, nonetheless, and after several minutes of the Ulster forwards battering the Glasgow line, well spread play found Bowe supplying the final pass to Timoney for the score, which makes next Saturday’s interprovincial derby in Limerick even more interesting.
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