Ulster grew into a tricky encounter this afternoon in Italy, overcoming some staunch resistance from Benetton Treviso to snatch a bonus point victory in the dying minutes with Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy, Robbie Diack and Jared Payne all getting on the scoresheet.
Treviso enjoyed the better of the first half although Ulster took all their chances to go in 11-3 ahead at the break, and in the second period the Italians were no match for a reinvigorated side.
Mark Anscombe’s men now sit in a promising position in Pool 5, with 18 points in the bag, in advance of difficult clashes coming up against Montpellier and Leicester Tigers next month.
Both teams struggled to get going at a foggy Stadio di Monigo, although an excellent combination between Paddy Jackson and Craig Gilroy almost saw the winger break loose of the Treviso defence on nine minutes.
Jackson knocked over a difficult penalty a minute later, somehow finding the posts despite the very poor visibility at pitch level.
The match progressed as a much tighter affair than last weekend’s 48-0 landslide at Ravenhill, and indeed a good steal by Antonio Pavanello at Rob Herring’s lineout got the Italians into a promising position on 28 minutes. Alberto di Bernardo duly equalised courtesy of a central penalty.
However, Treviso infringed straight from the restart and although Jackson’s penalty veered well wide, solid Ulster scrummaging moments later got the visitors back in the danger zone.
They took full advantage of their rare foray into the Italian 22 as Jared Payne dinked a lovely kick down the wing for bustling centre Luke Marshall to collect and ground his fifth try of the season.
Jackson’s conversion missed the target, but the number 10 was still able to have the last word of the half – hitting a sublime long range penalty with the final action of the period to extend his side’s lead to eight points.
Ulster enjoyed a sustained period of possession on the resumption, capped by a further Jackson penalty in the 46th minute – the score took the out-half over the 100-point mark in the Heineken Cup.
In worsening conditions, Ruan Pienaar missed a 54th minute penalty from distance, but Ulster kept the pressure on and got a further shot in the arm just before the hour as Brendan Williams saw yellow for interfering with an Ulster pass without making an attempt to catch the ball.
But Ulster struggled to make the most of their numerical superiority as the game got bogged down in several midfield scrums, until the 62nd minute when Payne once more spotted an opening on the wing, and this time Gilroy’s pace took him clear of the Treviso defence for the second try.
Jackson added the extras before Luke McLean joined Williams in the sin-bin for deliberately coming in from the side.
With the Italians now severely depleted, it was not long before back rower Robbie Diack touched down for the third after a strong drive from Sean Doyle, backed up by the brawn of John Afoa.
Another Jackson conversion dispatched, Ulster thoughts in the final 10 minutes turned to the prospect of a fourth try and bonus point to further strengthen their position at the top of the pool.
Payne duly provided the icing on the cake with two minutes remaining after Andrew Trimble had picked up a bobbling ball on the ground and supplied the full-back on the left wing.
A disappointing send-off for the departing Treviso head coach Franco Smith then, but Ulster go from strength to strength and sit at the summit with a very healthy 18 points with two games to go.
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