Ulster recovered from an early setback to battle their way into a lead in the intense heat against the Cell C Sharks.
The hosts got off to a flying start, catching Ulster cold in the sweltering conditions as Grant Williams showed electric pace and dancing feet to score an early try. Sharks fly half Curwin Bosch was unable to convert leaving the score at 5-0 in the opening minute or so.
The province also received an early blow as hooker John Andrew had to come off with an HIA for Tom Stewart.
Ulster shook off their early setback by starting to come forward into the Sharks half, it was clear to see the province were adapting to the conditions as a few balls were slipped in the opening period of the match.
In the 18th minute John Cooney put points on the board for Ulster with an impressive penalty kick.
Ulster were close to their first try of the match when a move that started with Springbok captain Duane Vermeulen smashing his way past Sharks to offload to Jake Flannery who found the pacey Aaron Sexton out on the wing. Sexton was held up just before the Sharks tryline and the referee gave a penalty for Sexton holding onto the ball.
Ulster's first try came a few minutes later through a their most used weapon, their driving maul. Ulster hooker Tom Stewart scored his seventh try of the campaign as he found the space to dive over the whitewash. John Cooney added the extras to send Ulster into a 5-10 lead.
The Sharks bit back soon after, with Ulster making a passing error that was played out wide to the pacey Thaakir Abrahams who sped through for the home side's second try of the day. Curwin Bosch slotted away the conversion to put the home side back in the lead at 12-10.
Ulster got some confidence with the amount of penalties they were forcing the Sharks into. Ulster's Jake Flannery used a penalty to kick into the corner and gear up for another maul. The Sharks again had no answer to Ulster's driving maul and Tom Stewart made his second try of the half and eighth try of the season to push Ulster into the lead once more. John Cooney nailed his conversion again to send Ulster into a five point lead.
Winger Craig Gilroy's match came to an end after a thunderous tackle that the referee felt he didn't recover from and sent him to the stands with an HIA.
Slick Ulster play close to the end of the half resulted in Aaron Sexton touching down on the tryline but the referee adjudged Luke Marshall to have played a forward pass out to Sexton.
Ulster went into the half five points to the good.
HT: 12-17
Ulster began the second half hunting the Sharks, pushing them into their own 22. Only three minutes into the restart Ulster celebrated their third try of the match in opportunistic circumstances. The Sharks thought they had relieved pressure with a steal and maul on their own tryline but Stewart Moore spotted that Grant Williams had carried the ball and dithered. The young centre pouncing on Williams lack of urgency and touching the ball down. Moore was rewarded for being switched on as the TMO confirmed his try was within the rules.
Cooney carried on where he left off as he kicked for a 12-24 lead to Ulster.
The Sharks reduced the lead to five after 51 minutes as big prop Ntuthuko Mchunu powered over after a Sharks maul in Ulster's 22. Bosch kicked his conversion making the score 19-24.
In a back and forth frantic game, Ulster pushed forward in the sweaty conditions and made sure of a bonus point through the on-form Academy product Harry Sheridan, who tumbled over for his second try in two games. It was reward for slick Ulster play through sub Ethan McIlroy, Mike Lowry and Aaron Sexton all linking up in a good attacking move.
Again Cooney slotted home another conversion to send Ulster into a 12 point lead of 19-31.
The next period of the match was a test of Ulster's grit, Ulster seemed to have the number on the Sharks mauls as they held onto their lead. Ulster also kept making vital turnovers to give the away side breathing space in the Durban pressure cooker.
However the home side weren't finished yet, as Sharks full back Boeta Chamberlain punished a stolen Ulster lineout to score the home side's fourth try. Bosch couldn't narrow the score further and with over 10 minutes remaining it was backs to the wall as Ulster held on to a 24-31 lead.
Despite the home side's pressure, Ulster held on - with John Cooney and sub Ian Madigan making vital contributions late on to see the away side hold on.
The Ulster men showed they could handle the heat in the Hollywoodbets Kings Park and travel back to Belfast with five huge points at a vital time of the season.
FT: 24- 31
🎯 The @URCOfficial Player of the Match today- John Cooney 👏 pic.twitter.com/gRVrXLELnT
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) February 25, 2023
Scorers
Cell C Sharks:
Tries: Williams, Abrahams, Mchunu, Chamberlain
Cons: Bosch 2
Ulster:
Tries: Stewart 2, Moore, Sheridan
Cons: Cooney 4
Pen: Cooney
Teams
Ulster
(15-9) Mike Lowry; Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stewart Moore, Aaron Sexton; Jake Flannery, John Cooney;
(1-8) Rory Sutherland, John Andrew, Jeff Toomaga-Allen; Alan O’Connor, Harry Sheridan; Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen (Captain).
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Gareth Milasinovich, Cormac Izuchukwu, Dave McCann, Dave Shanahan, Ian Madigan, Ethan McIlroy.
Cell C Sharks
(1-8) Ntuthuko Mchunu, Daniel Jooste, Hanru Jacobs, Reniel Hugo, Gerbrandt Grobler, Dylan Richardson, Vincent Tshituka, Phepsi Buthelezi
(15-9) Grant Williams, Curwin Bosch, Thaakir Abrahams, Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, Francois Venter, Werner Kok, Boeta Chamberlain
Replacements: Fezokuhle Mbatha, Dian Bleuler, Khwezi Mona, Emile Van Heerden, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Yaw Penxe