Match report by Neil Carnduff
Ulster withstood a ferocious Treviso fightback this afternoon in northern Italy to pick up only their second away victory of the Guinness Pro12 campaign, thanks to a powerful first-half display with tries from Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar and Tommy Bowe.
After a near-perfect performance in the first period, Ulster struggled after half-time as the Italians put paid to any pretensions of a bonus-point win for the visitors – and got themselves to within an unconverted try of a comeback victory.
Ulster held on, however, to retain their place at fifth in the standings on 39 points, and keep the pressure on the top four of Glasgow Warriors (43 points), Munster (42), Leinster (41) and Ospreys (40).
Jared Payne, available for selection for the first time since sustaining a foot injury in his international debut against South Africa in November, started on the bench with Louis Ludik – rested for last week’s interprovincial clash with Leinster – named at full-back. The only other change implemented by Head Coach Neil Doak saw Alan O’Connor start in the second row in place of Franco van der Merwe, sidelined with a chest infection.
Aside from the full-back berth, the remainder of the Ulster back line was unchanged, with Bowe and Craig Gilroy on the wings, Darren Cave and Stuart Olding in the centre, and Jackson and Pienaar at out- and scrum-half respectively.
In the pack, Callum Black and last week’s try-scorer Wiehahn Herbst scrummed down either side of captain Rory Best, with Dan Tuohy joining O’Connor in the second row, and an unchanged back row of Robbie Diack and Clive Ross flanking Roger Wilson.
Ulster came out all guns blazing in the Veneto sunshine, Pineaar’s quickly-taken tap-penalty in the fourth minute bringing them into the Italians’ ‘22’ where, after some good ground won by Ross, Jackson’s chip and chase sat up well as he retrieved the ball behind the Treviso defensive line and ran behind the posts for a neat early try.
Jackson converted his own score but, with Treviso launching a threatening attack of their own from the restart, Gilroy intentionally killed the line as they neared the whitewash, and found himself exiled to the sinbin for 10 minutes for cynical play.
Treviso failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, however, falling further behind on 18 minutes as Jackson sweetly struck a penalty from wide on the left. Gilroy returned two minutes later and made his presence felt within seconds, leading a breakaway down the left wing from Diack’s offload on halfway, and picking out Pienaar at the right moment to allow the scrum-half an unopposed run to the line for try number two.
Jackson added the extras, and three minutes later turned provider as he fed Bowe a sublime inside pass on the verge of the Treviso ‘22’ after more sterling work from Gilroy. Bowe, heavily strapped around both the head and the right leg after last week’s bruising encounter with Leinster, outpaced Angelo Esposito with a trademark diagonal run to the line, converted once more by Jackson.
A fourth try looked inevitable with five minutes remaining in the half, as Bowe and Pienaar again led the way in a speedy raid which only broke down as Gilroy opted to cut inside his man 10 metres from home, when a straight sprint down the line may well have secured the score.
Treviso put together their best spell of rugby just before the break, rewarded on 38 minutes as Sam Chrisitie gathered a low grubber from Jayden Hayward and resisted Bowe’s challenge to ground by the left-hand corner flag, the score expertly converted by Hayward.
Half-Time Score Benetton Treviso 7 Ulster 24
With Herbst making an early second-half exit due to an apparent hamstring strain, Bronson Ross slotted in at tighthead, but the Ulster locomotive rolled on unimpeded as they struck two convertible penalties to touch in search of the bonus point. Neither lineout supplied the fourth try, however, and as Payne made his long-awaited return on 52 minutes in place of Cave, Treviso moved up another gear, taking a hold on the game which they would not again relinquish.
Their superiority soon materialised in a score from Francesco Minto, as the replacement lock stretched over from a maul after patient build-up play from his fellow forwards.
Hayward sank the conversion to reduce the gap to 10 points, and as Ulster’s aspirations for the bonus-point victory began to seem somewhat premature, a 67th-minute penalty from the Kiwi left his side only a converted try away from parity.
A further three points followed five minutes later, this time from distance, and with Ulster close to floundering, their first break in a good 20 minutes won a penalty which Pineaar chose to kick to touch. Possession was lost at the lineout in the first instance and, although two further put-ins followed in quick succession, both were lost as Treviso battled for all they were worth.
Fortunately for Ulster, the Italians failed to prise possession back in any meaningful position, and Jackson was grateful to boot the ball into touch as the clock moved into the red.
The Guinness Pro12 campaign now takes a break, as Ulster face European champions Toulon in the European Rugby Champions Cup next Saturday before welcoming Leicester Tigers to the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday 24 January for their final Pool Three fixture.
Full-Time Score Benetton Treviso 20 Ulster 24
Benetton Treviso (15 – 9) J Hayward; A Esposito, M Campagnaro, L Morisi, A Pratichetti; S Christie (1 – 8) M Zanusso, D Giazzon, R Harden, T Vallejos-Cinalli, C Van Zyl, M Barbini, A Zanni (c), D Budd
Replacements (16 – 23) A Anae, JF Novak, D Rae, M Fuser, F Minto, M Swanepoel, J Ambrosini, A Lucchese
Ulster (15 – 9) L Ludik; T Bowe, D Cave, S Olding, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar (1 – 8) C Black, R Best (c), W Herbst, A O’Connor, D Tuohy, R Diack, C Ross, R Wilson
Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, A Warwick, B Ross, L Stevenson, S Reidy, P Marshall, P Nelson, J Payne