Ulster Head Coach Dan McFarland made a number of changes to the side that narrowly lost to Munster on New Year’s Day.
It was a new look front row as Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring and Jeff Toomaga- Allen came in to freshen things up. Mike Lowry and Nick Timoney also returned to the side after being rested.
The match began with a positive start from Ulster who had a lot of early pressure in the Benetton half, forcing an early scrum and lineout that they couldn't make the most out of.
Then, the pressure paid off after seven minutes with a powerful drive from number 8 Nick Timoney opened up an opportunity for the returning prop Eric O’Sullivan to score the first try of the match.
The try was confirmed after a TMO check on whether referee Ben Whitehouse had blocked off a Benetton player.
John Cooney made no mistake from the kick to send Ulster into an early 7-0 lead.
The Italians then fought back after the early setback to score their first try through some powerful attacking play that was finished by Argentine Tomas Albornoz. He then converted his own try to level the game up at 7-7.
At 18 minutes on the clock an Ulster attack was spilled in the breakdown by tireless work from Benetton, who got their second try after Onisi Ratave found himself in space down Ulster’s right wing.
Tomas Albornoz converted his second kick to make it 14-7 to the home team.
The game had a frantic feel to it with both sides giving up penalties and Ulster attacks being thwarted by Benetton’s determined defence.
Another offside gave Albornoz a penalty that he converted to increase the lead to 17-7. Just before the half ended an Ulster penalty gave John Cooney the chance to convert to narrow the gap at half time to 17-10.
HT: 17-10
Just a few minutes into the second half and Benetton got early points on the board through a calmly taken drop goal kick from Albornoz.
Ulster thought they might have had their second try after smart kick from Stuart McCloskey led to a kick chase forcing Benetton into a retreat. Jacob Stockdale dove for the ball on the try line but it was no try after TMO confirmed that Stockdale didn’t get control of the ball despite his best attempts.
Ulster then made three substitutes as in came Alan O’Connor for Iain Henderson, Duane Vermuelen for Greg Jones and Stuart Moore for James Hume.
Ulster made use of their best weapon and used their driving maul from a lineout to score their second try of the match. The returning hooker Rob Herring scoring his third try of the season by driving the side back into the match.
John Cooney could not make the conversion from an awkward angle and the scoreline was now 20-15.
Dan McFarland changed things up again in the front row as Tom Stewart and Rory Sutherland came on for try scorers Herring and O’Sullivan.
Then Benetton full back Rhyno Smith showed his kicking ability by extending the Italians lead with a long range penalty from the halfway line to put the side up 23-15.
It felt like the tide had turned in the game as Benetton grew in confidence. The side celebrated winning a scrum as though it were a try, as they sought to keep Ulster at bay.
It looked like game over when Benetton produced another turnover in midfield and Ignacio Brex crashed over the line on the left wing to score their third try of the game. Smith was unable to convert the try so the score stood at 28-15.
Ulster fought back into the game with full back Mike Lowry getting himself on the scoresheet by darting over to score and Cooney converted to edge Ulster 6 points behind with less than 15 minutes to play.
Ulster looked like they had pulled off a spectacular comeback after winning a lineout and driving forward with their maul.
Referee Ben Whitehouse decided the province were to be given a penalty try after Giovanni Pettinelli pulled down the maul. He was given a yellow card for the action and Ulster now found themselves back in the lead at 29-28.
With the clock running out and Ulster trying to fend off the home side, they conceded a penalty that gave Rhyno Smith a chance to win the game at the death. It was to be his and Benetton’s day as the kick kissed off the post to seal a dramatic victory for the Italians at their home ground.
Ulster rallied for one last push at the Benetton try line but it wasn’t be another comeback as the ball got knocked on in Ulster’s attack on the wing and the home side could finish the game off by kicking into touch.
FT: 31-29
Scorers:
Ulster
TRIES: O'Sullivan, Herring, Lowry, Penalty
CON: Cooney (2)
PEN: Cooney
Benetton
TRIES: Albornoz, Ratave, Brex
CON: Albornoz
PEN: Albornoz, Smith (2)
Teams:
Ulster
(15-9) Michael Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, John Cooney.
(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Jeff Toomaga- Allen, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson, Greg Jones, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.
Replacements:
T Stewart for Herring (56), R Sutherland for O’Sullivan (56), A Warwick for Reffell (67), A O’Connor for Henderson (49), D Vermeulen for Jones (49), N Doak for Burns (77), S Moore for Hume (49), E McIlroy for Stockdale (75).
Benetton
(15-9) Rhyno Smith, Edoardo Padovani, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Onisi Ratave,Tomas Albornoz, Alessandro Garbisi.
(1-8) Fedrico Zani, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: S Maile for Nicotera (60), C Traore for Zani (65), T Pasquali for Ferrari (67), G Pettinelli for Negri (52), S Hidalgo-Clyne for Garbisi (60), M Zanon for Menoncello (52)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)