Cardiff Blues 9 Ulster 26

Ulster grappled their way to a valuable victory tonight at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, overcoming some stubborn resistance from the Blues to maintain their unbeaten Guinness Pro12 run, courtesy of second-half tries from Dan Tuohy and Ian Humphreys. Ulster grappled their way to a valuable victory tonight at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, overcoming some stubborn resistance from the Blues to maintain their unbeaten Guinness Pro12 run, courtesy of second-half tries from Dan Tuohy and Ian Humphreys. The returning Paddy Jackson added 14 points from the boot in a match which failed to explode into life quite in the manner of the province’s two previous Pro12 encounters, which had yielded a total of 14 tries. Nevertheless, with 12 points under their belts after three matches – two of them tricky trips to Wales – Ulster sit atop the league table alongside surprise package Connacht, victors over interpro rivals Leinster this evening in Galway. Ireland internationals Jackson and Tommy Bowe returned to the starting XV for their first outings of the season at wing and out-half respectively, while three further changes to the side that put five tries past Zebre saw Louis Ludik return at full-back, along with fellow new recruit Franco van der Merwe at lock and Stuart Olding at inside centre. Elsewhere among the backs, Andrew Trimble lined up on the wing looking for his third try in as many games, while Darren Cave recovered from a rib injury to wear Number 13, and Paul Marshall made his third successive start at scrum-half. In the pack, an unchanged front row featured Andrew Warwick, captain Rory Best and Wiehahn Herbst, in front of van der Merwe and Tuohy – also keen to maintain a 100% scoring record this term after tries against the Scarlets and Zebre. At the base of the scrum, Robbie Diack and Chris Henry once again flanked Nick Williams. In a first half low on try-scoring chances but high on full-blooded challenges, both sides put in big hits in the early moments, with both Olding and Williams for Ulster, and Adam Thomas for the Blues, feeling the effects of high-impact collisions in the first five minutes. Jackson opened his 2014/15 account on seven minutes with a well-struck penalty from the right flank, and Ulster were good value for their slight lead as they kept play within the Cardiff half for the majority of the first quarter. However, when the Blues did breach the Ulster ‘22’, on 20 minutes, Henry’s failure to roll away in the tackle quickly enough for referee Neil Paterson’s liking presented Rhys Patchell with a simple equaliser in front of the posts. The young full-back impressed again moments later as he capitalised on some sluggish Ulster play to leave five or six opponents for dead with a diagonal dash which eventually earned him a second penalty, dispatched with aplomb from wide on the left. Jackson added two of his own either side of the half-hour mark, before Patchell once again levelled the scores five minutes from the break.  Ulster closed out the half with a strong lineout drive which made a good 15 metres until Adam Jones illegally pulled it down, allowing Jackson to send his side in at the interval three points to the good. Half-Time Score Cardiff Blues 9 Ulster 12 With Callum Black on at loosehead in place of Warwick, the second half followed the same cat-and-mouse pattern as had the first, with early forays for either side frustratingly cut short – by a crooked lineout throw from the Blues, and obstruction from Williams for Ulster as Trimble sought to make some ground on the left wing. After a long-range penalty attempt from Patchell spun well wide, a collapse in the scrum from Welsh prop Sam Hobbs saw Jackson also miss the target from just inside the Blues’ half. Then another fine drive from Ulster once again brought them to within 10 metres from the try-line, only for Jones to infringe once more. Staunch defence from Cardiff as Ulster probed from the lineout kept the visitors at bay at several reprises until Tuohy finally broke the line and romped home for his third try in consecutive games, converted by Jackson. Cardiff came desperately close to striking straight back as they put together the most expansive move of the match so far, but Patchell’s overcooked pass was knocked on by Richard Smith as he bore down on the try-line. With twenty minutes remaining, fresh legs for Ulster came on in the shape of Ian Humphreys, Craig Gilroy and Roger Wilson for Jackson, Cave and Williams respectively, before Tuohy joined them on the bench moments later nursing a forearm injury, replaced by Neil McComb. Undeterred by the enforced change, Ulster crafted a neat break on 62 minutes which saw Bowe touch down by the left-hand corner flag only for Mr Paterson to call Humphreys’ looping pass as forward. The inevitable Cardiff backlash came five minutes later, but sound work from the Ulster defencemen – with Diack and Ludik in particular putting their bodies on the line – held the assault at bay until the Blues finally infringed. Ulster did well to pin the Blues back in their own ‘22’ as the clock ran down, eventually forcing the error from out-half Gareth Davies, as Humphreys read the game well to intercept his opposite number’s risky pass towards Gareth Evans and run over for the try, which he duly converted. Next up for Ulster is another away trip – away to Zebre next Saturday afternoon – before Edinburgh are the visitors to the Kingspan Stadium on Friday 3 October. Full-Time Score Cardiff Blues 9 Ulster 26 Cardiff (15 – 9) R Patchell; A Cuthbert, A Thomas, G Evans, R Smith; G Davies, L Jones (1 – 8) S Hobbs, M Rees, A Jones, J Hoeata, F Paulo, J Turnbull, J Navidi, M Vosawai Replacements (16 – 23) R Williams, T Filise, S Andrews, M Cook, L Williams, C Allen, G Walsh Ulster (15 – 9) L Ludik; A Trimble, D Cave, S Olding, T Bowe; P Jackson, P Marshall (1 – 8) A Warwick, R Best (c), W Herbst, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, C Black, B Ross, N McComb, R Wilson, M Heaney, I Humphreys, C Gilroy