Superior firepower and exemplary mauling eased Ulster to a 30-0 home victory over Edinburgh as Andrew Trimble’s third and fourth tries of the campaign sealed his side’s third win – and fourth bonus point – in five GUINNESS PRO12 matches.
Alan Solomons’ visiting team failed to establish any real foothold in the match at Kingspan Stadium, while Ulster grew in confidence as the game progressed with second half tries from Nick Williams and captain Rory Best bookended by Andrew Trimble’s 25th and 77th-minute scores.
Perhaps most impressive of all, however, was another powerhouse display from the emerging Stuart McCloskey at inside centre, once again emphasising Ulster’s midfield strength in depth.
Competitive debuts for recently-signed prop Ruaidhri Murphy and Academy second row Alan O’Connor were among 10 personnel changes implemented after last Saturday’s disappointing defeat to Zebre in Parma.
After a stuttering start, the game exploded into life in the 10th minute when good work from O’Connor with stolen Edinburgh lineout ball put Ulster in command in the visitors’ 22, only for Louis Ludik to knock on Jared Payne’s pass five metres from home.
Ulster were soon on the scoresheet, however, as out-half Paddy Jackson landed his first penalty of the encounter as prop John Andress infringed in a scrum.
Jack Cuthbert had the chance to restore parity in the 17th minute after Jackson was penalised for a collision with an airborne Greig Tonks, but the winger’s kick from wide out on the left fell short of the posts.
Jackson too struggled with a penalty from distance moments later, but it proved of little consequence as in their very next attack, McCloskey (pictured below) tore through the Scots’ rearguard with all the power of a back rower before supplying Trimble on the 22. With plenty still to do, the winger switched the ball from his right to his left hand as he evaded Tim Visser’s lunge and accelerated to the line for a fine try.
Jackson converted before temporarily leaving the pitch for treatment on an arm injury sustained in his earlier clash with Tonks.
The Ireland international was back in the fray in time to kick over a further three points which made it 13-0 at half-time, with Roddy Grant penalised for killing the ball as Ulster pressed deep in Edinburgh territory.
With Andrew Warwick packing down in place of Murphy, the second half opened with Ludik terrorising the Edinburgh defence at close quarters, although an eventual clearance led to the Scots’ best spell of pressure in the game and a rolling maul which Ulster did well to hold up once it breached the line.
A crooked put-in from Sean Kennedy at the resulting five-metre scrum, however, ruined the visitors’ hard work and Ulster quickly pushed play back to halfway.
A well-worked lineout on 56 minutes saw Tommy Bowe break the Edinburgh defensive line, only for play to be called back for a forward pass from Payne as he improvised to flick on a ball from Paul Marshall just before the tackle.
Ulster offered no respite, nonetheless, and the pressure of their very next attack saw Edinburgh skipper Mike Coman yellow carded as his side’s penalty count began to mount up.
Successive lineouts for Ulster paid dividends just after the hour mark as Williams, a 50th minute replacement for Roger Wilson, picked up from five metres and dropped low to stretch over the line for his second try of the season, and his eighth in Ulster colours.
Stuart Olding – now on as a permanent replacement for Jackson – pulled the conversion wide, but having scored 18 points without reply, Ulster were in comfortable territory.
Best added a third try on 68 minutes as he picked up off the back of a perfectly-executed rolling maul from his own throw, with Olding this time adding the extras.
Trimble then completed the rout nine minutes later, latching onto Marshall’s long pass from another successful Ulster scrum to ground by the corner flag.
The winning margin and very nature of the victory came as a much-needed boost for Ulster, just in time for the series of three ‘must win’ matches over the coming weeks – at home to PRO12 high flyers Glasgow next Saturday followed by the European Rugby Champions Cup openers against Leicester Tigers and Toulon.
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