Darren Cave's 200th cap was the sole cause for celebration tonight in Galway as Ulster leaked six tries to a re-energised Connacht side, leaving the Northern province looking warily over their shoulders as fourth-placed Edinburgh begin to snap at their heels in the Guinness Pro14 Conference B table.
Tries from Craig Gilroy and Rob Lyttle were scant consolation from a ragged display by the Ulstermen, who tonight suffered a record defeat to their interprovincial rivals at the Sportsground and must now regroup, as Edinburgh’s surprise victory over Glasgow moves them to within three points of Les Kiss’s side.
Cave’s inclusion was one of eight changes from the starting XV that took on Harlequins last weekend in Round Four of the European Champions Cup, with three new faces in the backline and five in the pack.
Jacob Stockdale shifted to full-back with Gilroy and Andrew Trimble on the wings, Louis Ludik pairing with Cave in midfield, and Peter Nelson gaining further big-match experience at out-half alongside scrum-half John Cooney.
A front row of Andrew Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst propping either side of hooker John Andrew packed down ahead of locks Iain Henderson and Robbie Diack, while the back row featured flankers Clive Ross and Sean Reidy either side of Number Eight Nick Timoney.
Connacht’s blistering start to the game harked back to their title-winning form of two seasons past, with a try within three minutes for flanker Eoghan Masterson off the back of a rolling maul.
Five minutes later Bundee Aki held off three tackles to finish off Kieran Marmion’s break after the Connacht scrum-half had left Reidy and company for dead on the Ulster 10-metre line.
Then a poor pass from Stockdale to Ludik as Ulster attempted to earn some yards almost gifted try number three, as Andrew had to scramble back to his own line to make Masterson’s kick-on of the loose ball safe.
Ulster settled and began to make their tackles where it counted around the 15-minute mark, eventually making a dent on the scoresheet at the start of the second quarter, courtesy of a nicely-clipped penalty from former Connachtman Cooney.
But poor Ulster reaction to the restart and quick feet from Tiernan O’Halloran saw the full-back just stretch onto the whitewash for the third Connacht score, and while Ulster tried gamely to hit back straight away, their hosts defended astutely until a misplaced pass from Nelson saw Cave knock on.
Cooney’s second penalty eight minutes before the break soon paled into insignificance much like his first had, as Connacht scrummaged their way back down the park and a third consecutive Ulster infringement presented Carty with a simple three points on the cusp of half-time.
Half-Time Score Connacht 20 Ulster 6
With Greg Jones on for Reidy just before the interval and Adam McBurney replacing Andrew just after, Ulster’s cause was hindered further by a yellow card for Warwick on 46 minutes for persistent team infringement, Carty slotting the penalty.
Ludik soon joined Warwick in the bin for a deliberate knock-on as Ulster defended desperately, the inevitable bonus point coming straight from the resulting rolling maul for Ultane Dillane.
Another followed on the hour for flanker Jarrad Butler after McBurney had found himself terribly exposed under the high ball by winger Niyi Adeolokun.
As Ulster improved somewhat in the last quarter, Gilroy wove his way over for a neat consolation before replacement out-half Johnny McPhillips came close to a debut score after a fantastic end-to-end dash, the aftermath of which saw O’Halloran sinbinned for illegal holding on Paul Marshall.
There was still time enough for another try apiece, as Dillane grabbed his second of the night after a Connacht interception deep in their own half, before another Ulster replacement, Lyttle, notched his first of the season two minutes from time.
Ulster now have nine days to regroup and prepare for the all-important visit of Munster to Kingspan Stadium on New Year’s Day.
Final Score Connacht 44 Ulster 16
Connacht (15 – 9) Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Bundee Aki, Thomas Farrell, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion
(1 – 8) Denis Coulson, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux, Eoghan Masterson, Jarrad Butler, John Muldoon (c)
Replacements (16 – 23) Tom McCartney, Peter McCabe, Conor Carey, James Cannon, Naulia Dawai, James Mitchell, Eoin Griffin, Darragh Leader
Ulster (15 – 9) Jacob Stockdale; Craig Gilroy, Louis Ludik, Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble; Peter Nelson, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Wiehahn Herbst, Iain Henderson (c), Robbie Diack, Clive Ross, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney
Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Schalk van der Merwe, Ross Kane, Matthew Rea, Greg Jones, Paul Marshall, Johnny McPhillips, Robert Lyttle
Tries from Craig Gilroy and Rob Lyttle were scant consolation from a ragged display by the Ulstermen, who tonight suffered a record defeat to their interprovincial rivals at the Sportsground and must now regroup, as Edinburgh’s surprise victory over Glasgow moves them to within three points of Les Kiss’s side.
Cave’s inclusion was one of eight changes from the starting XV that took on Harlequins last weekend in Round Four of the European Champions Cup, with three new faces in the backline and five in the pack.
Jacob Stockdale shifted to full-back with Gilroy and Andrew Trimble on the wings, Louis Ludik pairing with Cave in midfield, and Peter Nelson gaining further big-match experience at out-half alongside scrum-half John Cooney.
A front row of Andrew Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst propping either side of hooker John Andrew packed down ahead of locks Iain Henderson and Robbie Diack, while the back row featured flankers Clive Ross and Sean Reidy either side of Number Eight Nick Timoney.
Connacht’s blistering start to the game harked back to their title-winning form of two seasons past, with a try within three minutes for flanker Eoghan Masterson off the back of a rolling maul.
Five minutes later Bundee Aki held off three tackles to finish off Kieran Marmion’s break after the Connacht scrum-half had left Reidy and company for dead on the Ulster 10-metre line.
Then a poor pass from Stockdale to Ludik as Ulster attempted to earn some yards almost gifted try number three, as Andrew had to scramble back to his own line to make Masterson’s kick-on of the loose ball safe.
Ulster settled and began to make their tackles where it counted around the 15-minute mark, eventually making a dent on the scoresheet at the start of the second quarter, courtesy of a nicely-clipped penalty from former Connachtman Cooney.
But poor Ulster reaction to the restart and quick feet from Tiernan O’Halloran saw the full-back just stretch onto the whitewash for the third Connacht score, and while Ulster tried gamely to hit back straight away, their hosts defended astutely until a misplaced pass from Nelson saw Cave knock on.
Cooney’s second penalty eight minutes before the break soon paled into insignificance much like his first had, as Connacht scrummaged their way back down the park and a third consecutive Ulster infringement presented Carty with a simple three points on the cusp of half-time.
Half-Time Score Connacht 20 Ulster 6
With Greg Jones on for Reidy just before the interval and Adam McBurney replacing Andrew just after, Ulster’s cause was hindered further by a yellow card for Warwick on 46 minutes for persistent team infringement, Carty slotting the penalty.
Ludik soon joined Warwick in the bin for a deliberate knock-on as Ulster defended desperately, the inevitable bonus point coming straight from the resulting rolling maul for Ultane Dillane.
Another followed on the hour for flanker Jarrad Butler after McBurney had found himself terribly exposed under the high ball by winger Niyi Adeolokun.
As Ulster improved somewhat in the last quarter, Gilroy wove his way over for a neat consolation before replacement out-half Johnny McPhillips came close to a debut score after a fantastic end-to-end dash, the aftermath of which saw O’Halloran sinbinned for illegal holding on Paul Marshall.
There was still time enough for another try apiece, as Dillane grabbed his second of the night after a Connacht interception deep in their own half, before another Ulster replacement, Lyttle, notched his first of the season two minutes from time.
Ulster now have nine days to regroup and prepare for the all-important visit of Munster to Kingspan Stadium on New Year’s Day.
Final Score Connacht 44 Ulster 16
Connacht (15 – 9) Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Bundee Aki, Thomas Farrell, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion
(1 – 8) Denis Coulson, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux, Eoghan Masterson, Jarrad Butler, John Muldoon (c)
Replacements (16 – 23) Tom McCartney, Peter McCabe, Conor Carey, James Cannon, Naulia Dawai, James Mitchell, Eoin Griffin, Darragh Leader
Ulster (15 – 9) Jacob Stockdale; Craig Gilroy, Louis Ludik, Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble; Peter Nelson, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Wiehahn Herbst, Iain Henderson (c), Robbie Diack, Clive Ross, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney
Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Schalk van der Merwe, Ross Kane, Matthew Rea, Greg Jones, Paul Marshall, Johnny McPhillips, Robert Lyttle