Edinburgh 20 Ulster 32
It has been a miserable few weeks for Ulster both off and on the pitch but on Friday nightt at BT Murrayfield the Belfast-based side took a giant step towards redemption with a fully deserved win over Edinburgh that narrows the Scottish side’s lead on the Irish province in the Pro14 Conference B.
Crucially Ulster scored four tries to gain the bonus point and in the weeks ahead this could be important. Pleasingly for the Ulster supporters who came in reasonable numbers to the Scottish capital , Ulster played with style, their back line outclassing their opponents by some considerable degree.
Jonny McPhillips certainly made the backs operate smoothly and his half back partnership with man-of-the-match John Cooney was one of the highlights of the Ulster performance. And in midfield Darren Cave and Stuart McCloskey were equally good in defence and attack.
In the battle of the forwards the influence of Rory Best and Iain Henderson could not be understated but the performance of the young prop Tom O’Toole was hugely encouraging.
But it was Edinburgh who opened the scoring with a simple penalty kick from Duncan Weir after Ulster had been penalised at the ruck. Ulster, however, replied in spectacular fashion as Charles Piutau found room to put Jacob Stockdale into space but it was the winger’s inside pass to Darren Cave that created the visitors’ opening try, John Cooney converting for a 7-3 lead.
Another Weir penalty, again for a ruck offence, brought Edinburgh back into the reckoning. But not for long. From a penalty created line-out Ulster moved the ball wide and from a clever run by Cave, Piutau was able to run in his side’s second try.
Edinburgh had barely recovered from the shock of this score when Ulster repeated the dose. This time it was Stockdale, showing the confidence derived from his international experience, who sliced through the Edinburgh midfield, his inside pass giving Cooney a direct run to the line. The scrum half then converted his own try.
It was a day for half backs as outside half Duncan Weir intercepted an ill-judged Ulster pass before running 55 metres for a try under the posts which he duly converted. Ulster were under pressure again when Blair KInghorn broke clear only for the Edinburgh full back to kick the ball dead, leaving the visitors with a 19-13 interval advantage.
Both sides tried to play at a fast pace after the break but despite promising handling moves it was a penalty by Cooney that accounted for the next points.
Then after encamping on the Ulster line, Edinburgh made good from their territorial gain with a series of scrums that ultimately resulted in a penallty try as the home side found the necessary power bringing the scores to 20-22.
Ulster’s narrow lead was widened with a second penalty goal by Cooney and as the game went into its final 10 minute phase the visitors looked increasingly like holding on to their advantage. Edinburgh tried desperately to close the gap but their attempts to chase the game were looking hopeless and only brave defence prevented Iain Henderson from scoring. But moments later Henderson burst from a ruck to score the try he deserved, Cooney’s conversion killing Edinburgh hopes.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Weir pen, 3-0; 12 mins: Cave try, 3-5, Cooney con, 3-7; 15 mins: Weir pen, 6-7; 20 mins: Piutau try, 6-12; 23 mins; Cooney try, 6-17; Cooney con 6-19; 31 mins: Weir try 11-19; Weir con, 13-19; (ht); 50: Cooney pen, 13-22 ; 61 mins pen try 20-22; 65 mins Cooney pen, 20-25, 77 mins: Henderson try, 20-30, Cooney con 20-32.
EDINBURGH: B Kinghorn; D Fife, M Bennett, P Burleigh, D Van Der Merwe; D Weir, S Hidalgo-Clyne; J Lay, S McInally, S Berghan, B Toolis, G Gilchrist, M Bradbury, J Ritchie, V Mata.
Replacements: N Cochrane for McInally (60 mins), R Sutherland for Lay (55 mins), W Nel for Berghan ( 55 mins), L Carmichael for Toolis (55 mins), C Du Preez for Mata (55 mins), S Kennedy for Hidalgo-Clyne (60 mins), J van der Walt for Weir ( mins), C Dean for Burleigh (50 mins).
ULSTER: C Piutau; L Ludik, D Cave, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; J McPhillips, J Cooney; A Warwick, R Best, T O'Toole, M Dalton, I Henderson, M Rea, N Timoney, J Deysel.
Replacements : R Herring for Best (74 mins), T O’Hagan for Warwick ( mins), R Ah You for O’Toole (60 mins), A O’Connor, S Reidy for Timoney (71 mins), T Bowe for Ludik (38 mins).
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
