Two-Try Ulster Get The Job Done In Cardiff

Ulster grappled their way to a valuable victory at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park as they maintained their unbeaten GUINNESS PRO12 run thanks to second half tries from Dan Tuohy and Ian Humphreys.

The returning Paddy Jackson added 14 points from the boot in a match which failed to match the free-scoring nature of Ulster’s two previous PRO12 encounters this season, which had yielded a total of 14 tries.

Nevertheless, with 12 points under their belts after three matches – two of them tricky trips to Wales – Rory Best and his team-mates are riding high at the top of the table alongside Connacht, who were 10-9 victors over provincial rivals Leinster in Galway.

Ireland internationals Jackson and Tommy Bowe returned to the Ulster starting line-up for their first outings of the season at wing and out-half respectively.

There were three further changes to the side that put five tries past Zebre as Louis Ludik resumed at full-back, along with fellow new recruit Franco van der Merwe at lock and Stuart Olding at inside centre.

Elsewhere among the backs, Andrew Trimble lined up on the right wing looking for his third try in as many games, while Darren Cave recovered from a rib injury to wear the number 13 jersey and Paul Marshall made his third successive start at scrum half.

In the pack, an unchanged front row featured Andrew Warwick, captain Best and Wiehahn Herbst, in front of van der Merwe and Tuohy, who was also keen to maintain a 100% try-scoring record this term after tries against the Scarlets and Zebre. At the base of the scrum, Robbie Diack and Chris Henry once again flanked number 8 Nick Williams.

In a first half low on try-scoring chances but high on full-blooded challenges, both sides put in big hits in the early stages, with both Olding and Williams and the Blues’ Adam Thomas feeling the effects of high-impact collisions in the first five minutes.

Jackson opened his 2014/15 account on seven minutes with a well-struck penalty from the right flank, and Ulster were good value for their slight lead as they kept play within the Cardiff half for the majority of the first quarter.

However, when the Blues did breach the Ulster 22 at the end of the first quarter, Henry’s failure to roll away in the tackle quickly enough for referee Neil Paterson’s liking presented Rhys Patchell with a simple equaliser in front of the posts.

The young full-back impressed again moments later as he capitalised on some sluggish Ulster play to leave five or six opponents for dead with a diagonal dash which eventually earned him a second penalty, dispatched with aplomb from wide on the left.

Jackson added two of his own either side of the half hour mark, before Patchell once again levelled the scores five minutes from the break.

Ulster closed out the half with a strong lineout drive which made a good 15 metres until Adam Jones illegally pulled it down, allowing Jackson (pictured below) to send his side in at the interval 12-9 to the good.

With Callum Black on at loosehead prop in place of Warwick, the second half followed the same cat-and-mouse pattern as had the first.

Early forays for either side were frustratingly cut short – by a crooked lineout throw from the Blues, and obstruction from Williams for Ulster as Trimble sought to make some ground on the left wing.

After a long range penalty attempt from Patchell spun well wide, a collapse in the scrum from Welsh prop Sam Hobbs saw Jackson also miss the target from just inside the Cardiff half.

Then another fine drive from Ulster once again brought them to within 10 metres from the try-line, only for Jones to infringe once more.

Staunch defence from Cardiff as Ulster probed from the lineout kept the visitors at bay until Tuohy (pictured below) finally broke the line and romped home for his third try of the current league campaign, which Jackson converted.

Cardiff came desperately close to striking straight back as they put together the most expansive move of the match so far, but Patchell’s overcooked pass was knocked on by Richard Smith as he bore down on the try-line.

With twenty minutes remaining, fresh legs for Ulster came on in the shape of Humphreys, Craig Gilroy and Roger Wilson, before try scorer Tuohy was replaced by Neil McComb after picking up a forearm injury.

Undeterred by the enforced change, Ulster crafted a neat break on 62 minutes which saw Bowe touch down by the left corner flag only for the referee to rule that Humphreys’ looping pass went forward.

The inevitable Cardiff backlash came five minutes later, but sound work from the Ulster defence – with Diack and Ludik, in particular, putting their bodies on the line – held the assault at bay until the Blues finally infringed.

Ulster did well to pin the Blues back in their own 22 as the clock ran down, eventually forcing an error from out-half Gareth Davies, as Humphreys read it well to intercept his opposite number’s risky pass towards Gavin Evans and run in a clinching converted try.