Prolific Ulster showed Benetton Treviso no quarter at Ravenhill, pulverising the Italians with a seven-try tour de force to seize a vital bonus point at the halfway stage of the Heineken Cup pool stages.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: ULSTER 48 BENETTON TREVISO 0
A Luke Marshall score in each half added to tries from Paddy Jackson, John Afoa, Dan Tuohy, Sean Doyle and Andrew Trimble, with Jackson celebrating his 50th cap for the province with a further 13 points from the boot.
Jared Payne and Darren Cave, while not getting their names on the scoresheet, were electric throughout the 48-0 win and played a pivotal role in everything good that Ulster produced, while man-of-the-match Rob Herring was a powerhouse at hooker.
Ulster only just missed out on a dream start as a Luke McLean fumble in the first minute got the home backs to within a metre of the line on the right wing, before possession slipped from their hands.
Ulster came straight back again with incisive midfield play from Payne, and a handful of phases later it was Jackson who broke through the Italian rearguard, picking up a one-handed offload from Cave two metres from home to cross the whitewash under a tandem of heavy tackles.
The try went unconverted, but with the Ulster forwards entirely dominating the scrum and the backs in such quicksilver form, it was a question of when and not if Ulster would penetrate again.
The answer came on 16 minutes, in no small part thanks to Tuohy, who alertly scooped up a loose ball on halfway and set another free-flowing move in motion.
Payne took control as the ball moved to the right wing, leaving four men in his wake before supplying Cave, who beat three defenders and fed centre partner Marshall to plough over to the right of the posts.
This time Jackson’s conversion was on target and although Treviso enjoyed short pockets of good rugby as the first half advanced, they were powerless to resist the bulk of Afoa on the half hour mark as the prop added another highlight to his Ravenhill scrapbook with a one-man demolition job through the heart of the Treviso defence.
Picking up a good 10 metres from the line, the Kiwi showed the Aviva Premiership exactly what they can expect next season as he brushed half-a-dozen tackles aside to touch down beneath the posts.
Jackson’s conversion was dispatched with ease and Ulster then set about trying to bag the bonus point before half-time, with both Trimble and Craig Gilroy tormenting their opponents with a deadly cocktail of speed, strength and trickery.
However, Treviso defended stoutly, and Mark Anscombe’s charges had to settle for a further three points from Jackson’s boot as half-time came with the scoreboard showing 22-0.
Herring broke up some decent Treviso possession as the second period opened with a smart steal on halfway, but to their credit the Italians built again and earned a scrum five metres from the Ulster line.
The set piece came to nothing as the Italians dithered at the put-in, although Marshall was sin-binned in the next attack from the visitors for failing to roll away in the tackle.
Treviso opted for a five-metre scrum in front of the posts, but were unable to make their numerical superiority count and the province eventually cleared their lines in the 56th minute.
At this stage the hosts sparked back into life. Tuohy was again instrumental as he broke into the Treviso 22, exchanged a neat one-two with the ever-influential Cave and crashed over for the bonus-point try.
The Jackson conversion capped a harsh blow for the visitors, who had enjoyed 15 minutes’ worth of possession with no points to show for it.
The Ulstermen, still a man light, applied further salt to the wounds on 63 minutes as excellent movement created the gap for Doyle to dive between the posts for his first try in Ulster colours, converted once more by Jackson.
Multiple personnel changes later, Trimble withstood a heavy tackle by the corner flag to ground try number six after yet another assist from Cave.
Although Jackson’s kick struck the upright, the Ireland out-half was heavily involved in the final try from the rampant home side.
He latched onto replacement David McIlwaine’s flicked pass and picked out Marshall at the right time to send in the centre for his second score of the night.
The Ulster tally peaked at 48 points courtesy of Jackson’s final conversion with two minutes remaining, and in form such as this the men in white must be confident for next Saturday’s return fixture in northern Italy.
Another bonus point victory would see Anscombe’s side top the pool on 18 points with four games played, and give the province every chance of securing a home quarter-final berth.
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