BENETTON RUGBY 10 ULSTER 15

An under-strength Ulster did just enough to see off Benetton Rugby this afternoon at the Stadio Monigo, with two second-half tries within ten minutes from Sean Reidy and Rob Herring making the difference in a game littered with errors from both sides. The win – Ulster’s second on the road in their 2018/19 Guinness Pro14 campaign so far – lifts Dan McFarland’s team to second in the Conference B standings on 25 points, four behind leaders Leinster. Deprived of half a dozen first XV starters away on Ireland duty in Chicago, Ulster lined up with youth throughout the ranks, particularly in the backline where Academy prospect James Hume got his first start at centre, and winger Robert Baloucoune hoped to build on his impressive debut last week against the Dragons. The remainder of the back seven was made up by full-back Peter Nelson, winger Henry Speight, centre Stuart McCloskey, out-half Billy Burns and scrum-half David Shanahan – a try-scorer last Friday at the Kingspan Stadium. Up front Eric O’Sullivan and Marty Moore propped either side of hooker Herring, with an engine room of captain Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell ahead of a back row of Marcell Coetzee, Reidy and Nick Timoney. Ulster’s first-half performance was decidedly lacklustre, with statistics of only 30% possession and a mere 18% in territorial advantage speaking volumes. Hume came into the game as it progressed, contributing a try-saving tackle at the close of the period; while Baloucoune impressed again until an injury saw his day cut short at the half-hour mark, when he was replaced by Angus Kernohan. Benetton, less heavily depleted than their opponents with big names such as Tomasso Allan and Jayden Hayward released from the Italian squad to play in Treviso, made a perfect start with a third-minute driving maul simply pulverising the Ulster defence, and hooker Hame Faiva powering over. The Italians continued to dominate from the restart, Ulster’s cause not helped by a surrendered lineout – their 21^st of the campaign to date – but better defence against their next rolling maul forced an eventual knock-on. Undeterred, Benetton came again, winger Ratuva Tavuyara just held up by Speight as he attempted to touch down from Hayward’s pass. As the half wore on Ulster struggled to make any impression in Italian territory at all, the lion’s share of possession firmly with the hosts until a poor forward pass gifted the visitors a scrum which allowed them to breach the half-way line. A penalty soon followed, expertly dispatched by Burns from distance to bring his side to within four points of the Italians on the half-hour at 7 – 3 – when their lack of impact in the match would have justified a larger margin. Indeed, Ulster were fortunate to leave the field for the interval with the scoreboard static, with Hume the man to thank for a fine tackle on Tommaso Benvenuti right on the try-line, initially holding man and ball up as the winger attempted to ground, then winning the knock-on with the force of his challenge’s follow-through. Half-Time Score Benetton 7 Ulster 3 Better from Ulster as the second half opened saw Reidy dive over within four minutes of the restart after a strong line break from McCloskey and sharp pass from Shanahan, and while Burns’ conversion missed, an Italian infraction at the next scrum gave the out-half the opportunity to kick deep into the ‘22’. The lineout drive ran like clockwork, and while the Benetton defence stopped the first surge just short of the line, quick recycling and a neat sidestep from McCloskey looked to have brought the centre his third try of the season – only for the TMO to disallow the try with a marginal call ruling that the Newtownards man had lost control of the ball just as he stretched to ground it. Ulster retained possession, however, and once flanker Michele Lamaro had been sent to the bin for intentionally collapsing a maul, powerful driving got Herring over in the 54^th minute for a try that, this time, was incontestable. Burns’ conversion gave his side an eight-point cushion, reduced to five on 63 minutes courtesy of an Allan penalty, and as the momentum began to swing back in the hosts’ favour, Ulster did well to force them back into their own half and keep them contained there until six minutes from time. At this stage, a penalty on halfway gave the Italians lineout ball in the Ulster ‘22’, but they contrived to lose possession three times in as many minutes, before a final surge in stoppage time eventually broke down with another knock-on. The Guinness Pro14 now takes a three-week break, although Ulster will be back in action on Friday 9^th November when they welcome the Uruguayan national team to the Kingspan Stadium. Full-Time Score Benetton 10 Ulster 15 Benetton (15 – 9) Jayden Hayward; Ratuva Tavuyara, Ighnacio Brex, Alberto Sgarbi, Tommaso Benvenuti; Tommaso Allan, Dewaldt Duvenage (1 – 8) Derrick Appiah, Hame Faiva, Simone Ferrari, Irné Herbst, Alessandro Zanni, Dean Budd (c), Michele Lamaro, Marco Barbini Replacements (16 – 23) Tomas Baravalle, Alberto De Marchi, Marco Riccioni, Niccolò Cannone, Giovanni Pettinelli, Edoardo Gori, Antonio Rizzi, Angelo Esposito Ulster (15 – 9) Peter Nelson; Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Henry Speight; Billy Burns, David Shanahan (1 – 8) Eric O'Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore; Alan O'Connor (c), Kieran Treadwell; Marcell Coetzee, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O'Toole, Clive Ross, Greg Jones, Jonny Stewart, Johnny McPhillips, Angus Kernohan Match report by Neil Carnduff