Nick Williams lit up Kingspan Stadium tonight with an electric two-try performance as Ulster dispatched Zebre with a 32-0 bonus point victory which keeps the pressure on the GUINNESS PRO12’s top three.
While the Ulstermen defended well to keep a clean sheet, they struggled to put their chances away and had to wait until two minutes from time for replacement Paul Marshall to secure the bonus point.
The impressive Peter Browne had contributed the third try on 60 minutes, but with two tries chalked off by marginal calls from the TMO and referee John Lacey, the home crowd had to sweat it out more than they would have hoped.
The win cements Ulster’s fourth place standing in the PRO12 table on 51 points, gaining one point on third-placed Scarlets who failed to land a bonus against Benetton Treviso.
Four changes to the Ulster starting line-up included the entirety of the front row, with stand-in captain Rob Herring returning at hooker with props Kyle McCall and Ricky Lutton on either side.
The remainder of the pack was unchanged, with a second row of Browne and Franco van der Merwe lining up ahead of flankers Robbie Diack and Chris Henry and eventual man-of-the-match Nick Williams, at number 8.
The other change came with Rory Scholes, Edinburgh-bound at the end of the season, slotting in on the right wing after the hamstring injury sustained by centre Sam Arnold last week in Cardiff. This led to a reshuffling of the backs, with Stuart Olding moving into midfield alongside Luke Marshall, and Craig Gilroy starting at full-back.
Jacob Stockdale, Paddy Jackson and Ruan Pienaar retained their places on the left wing and at out-half and scrum half respectively.
After wasting an early penalty to touch by kicking directly behind the try-line, Jackson fared better with a fifth minute effort towards the posts, and again two minutes later when Zebre infringed for the fourth time with a high tackle on centre Marshall.
A rolling maul off the next penalty also paid dividends, Williams taking full advantage of the Ulster pack’s superior drive to pile over for the try, converted by Jackson.
The Italians enjoyed a narrow escape on 25 minutes when Scholes’ effort off the back of a scrum was overruled by TMO Kevin Beggs for the blocking of a prospective tackler by Marshall. However, there was no disputing Williams’ second score on the half hour as he piled through both Italian flankers off the next scrum to touch down.
Jackson converted again and although Zebre saw out the first half entrenched deep in the Ulster 22, a distinct lack of imagination – and an eventual knock-on – ensured that Ulster ran off with their 20-0 advantage intact.
Williams thought he had the hat-trick 10 minutes into the second period after an electrifying dummy and sprint from Marshall – only for the score to be cancelled out by Lacey for an apparent knock-on from Herring.
Ulster came again on the hour after soaking up two fruitless spells of Zebre pressure, Browne stretching over the line after more good work from WIlliams and his fellow forwards five metres out.
Jackson’s conversion attempt veered off target, but with the fourth try now the sole priority, Zebre did well to bog Ulster down in defence for a good 10 minutes.
That was until a sharp one-two between Jackson and replacement Darren Cave made the space for Olding to burst into the 22 and pick out replacement Paul Marshall at pace, the nippy scrum half doing well to hold onto the ball and dive over to tangible relief across east Belfast.
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