Ulster kept up their quest for a top four RaboDirect PRO12 position as Darren Cave’s first half try and solid kicking from Paddy Jackson helped them get the better of second-from-bottom Zebre in Parma.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: ZEBRE 11 ULSTER 19
This round 9 fixture in Parma – the first of four back-to-back clashes with Italian opposition in both domestic and European competitions – saw a disciplined display from Mark Anscombe’s side, bereft of half-a-dozen frontliners through injury and player resting.
Although fielding an under-strength side, Ulster managed the game expertly and were good value for their sixth victory of the league campaign.
Zebre belied their lowly league placing by pinning Ulster back for a good ten minutes early on, displaying a blend of strength and stealth which the visitors had to be at their alert best to resist.
Gonzalo Garcia reaped the benefits of his side’s early superiority with a well-struck penalty from the Ulster 10-metre line, which was cancelled out by a central Paddy Jackson effort in the 11th minute.
The Italians continued to press, however, spreading play through their ranks and forcing a second Ulster infringement, this time well inside the 22 – centre Garcia once again split the posts.
But a collapsed scrum, courtesy of Zebre’s ex-Munster prop David Ryan, put Ulster in the driving seat. A promising attack – spearheaded by Darren Cave after a neat lay-off from John Afoa – only failed to secure five points when Mike McComish’s final pass on the left wing was intercepted.
Jackson picked up a further three points, however, with Zebre again penalised in front of the posts, and a superb Andrew Trimble take from his lofty garryowen on 26 minutes set the wheels in motion for the Ulster try.
Jackson himself had a further part to play, a sublime sleight of hand from the out-half freeing up Craig Gilroy inside the 22, before the winger picked out Cave metres from the line and the centre, so impressive last weekend against Edinburgh, crossed behind the posts.
The Jackson conversion gave Ulster a seven-point lead (13-6), maintained until the half-time whistle as the teams battled for territory in the middle of the pitch.
Zebre opened the second period with a shunned three points, Tommaso Iannone opting instead for a lineout which Ulster subsequently pilfered.
Quick feet from Gilroy as Ulster broke away got the visitors deep into Italian territory, and a second lineout steal – this time from Dan Tuohy – led to the concession of another penalty which Jackson dispatched for a 10-point advantage.
The Ulster number 10 made it five kicks from five on the 51-minute mark as the province kept the scoreboard ticking over.
However, a strong drive from the Italians saw full-back Guglielmo Palazzani stretch over the whitewash moments later despite a muscular last-ditch tackle from Luke Marshall.
Replacement out-half Luciano Orquera’s conversion kick sailed disappointingly wide, but good exploitation of the full breadth of the pitch by Zebre as the game entered its final quarter kept Ulster under the cosh for a full 10 minutes, until Roger Wilson grabbed a loose ball and punted it deep into Zebre territory.
Ulster duly reclaimed possession of the ball and forced a penalty as Zebre strayed offside, although Jackson’s kick clipped the outside of the upright and rebounded into touch.
Then Mauro Bergamasco turned back the years with an energetic burst through the heart of the Ulster defence, eluding replacement forwards Callum Black and Niall Annett until the visitors’ rearguard regrouped and grounded the Italian veteran deep in their 22.
A penalty against Tuohy for a high tackle got Zebre back into the Ulster danger zone with five minutes remaining, but stout defence – as the Ulster forwards held up the ball carrier – put an end to the Italian pressure with 77 minutes on the clock.
Indeed, Ulster closed out the match in the ascendancy, controlling the ball in midfield until replacement scrum half Michael Heaney kicked the ball into touch past the 80 minutes.
Ulster moved into third place in the standings on the back of today’s win, level on 29 points with Glasgow Warriors and a full six behind high-flying Munster.
Attentions now turns to the Heineken Cup, with Benetton Treviso the visitors to Ravenhill in seven days’ time before a return trip to northern Italy on Saturday, December 14.
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