Racing 92, kicking off towards the family stand, started brightly in the first minute, immediately putting Ulster under pressure with Njocke reaching the 5-metre line. However, a strong Ulster defence, which saw Harry Sheridan win a crucial breakdown, held firm, allowing the ball to be cleared to halfway.
Ulster quickly gained ascendancy, earning penalties that allowed Jack Murphy to kick deep into the Racing 22. They were awarded a 5-metre lineout, setting up a powerful maul featuring Sheridan, O’Toole, and Irvine. The pressure nearly paid off immediately when James Hume crashed over in the corner in the fourth minute, but the score was disallowed after a TMO decision.
Against the run of play, the French side delivered a shock. Following an intercepted pass, fly-half Antoine Gibert raced the length of the field, with no one near him, to score under the posts in the seventh minute and convert his own try for a 0-7 lead. Racing’s subsequent attack was fast-paced, with runs from Noa Zinzen and Lukima Tagitagivalu, but excellent defending from Nathan Doak and Jacob Stockdale averted the danger.
Ulster’s response was clinical. In the fourteenth minute, a move started by Doak spreading the ball wide to Hume, who popped it to Jacob Stockdale, saw the full-back find the space to score. Murphy added the extras, tying the game, 7-7.
Racing responded strongly, with Sam James racing through a gap before he was intercepted by Zac Ward.
Ulster suffered an early loss to injury when Jude Postlethwaite was replaced by Stewart Moore.
A scoring opportunity for the French visitors came on the twenty-sixth minute, when Racing received a penalty for offside. However, Gibert’s kick went wide, leaving the score even.
Ulster's dominance in the tight exchanges began to tell as Racing conceded a lot of penalties. After getting deep into the 22, the hosts set up a powerful 5-metre maul. Five minutes before the half-time whistle, hooker Rob Herring collected the ball at the back of the drive, and dropped over the line. Murphy’s conversion extended the lead to 14-7.
Racing fought back hard, with centre Vladi Ashveita touching down over the line, but superb defensive work from Robert Baloucoune and a TMO review denied Racing the score. Just moments later, Racing would crash over again, this time it would be skipper, Will Rowlands, but again, the TMO decision did not go in the visitors' favour, keeping the score 14-7 at the break.
HT: Ulster 14 – 7 Racing 92
The second half was an Ulster rampage. The scoring started in the forty-third minute after a big carry from Zac Ward handed Ulster the momentum. Juarno Augustus was stopped just short, but prop Tom O’Toole picked up the ball and was able to drive over. The conversion kick went wide, making the score 19-7.
The bonus point arrived swiftly moments later, when replacement hooker, Tom Stewart broke away from a maul and showed brilliant power to crash over. Murphy's conversion put Ulster firmly in control at 26-7. Racing 92's evening worsened instantly when Fabien Sanconnie was shown a yellow card in the forty-ninth minute for knocking Stewart off the ball.
Ulster capitalised ruthlessly on the man advantage. Angus Bell made his Ulster debut in the fifty-fourth minute, and made an immediate impact, winning his first penalty in Ulster colours from the scrum. The attack was finished in the fifty-ninth minute by replacement prop Scott Wilson, who picked up the ball and dived under the posts for a converted try, making it 33-7. The tries kept flowing, with Stewart Moore making a nice break in the sixty-eighth minute and popping the ball inside to Jake Flannery, who had a clear run to the line. Once again, Murphy added the extras, taking the score to 40-7 with less than fifteen minutes to go.
The final ten minutes brought three more tries. The forwards showed brilliant hands, starting with Bryn Ward and ending with his brother Zac darting over in the corner in the seventy-third minute. Then, in the seventy-eighth minute, a brilliant break and offload from Bell set up quick hands that saw Jacob Stockdale jog over for his second try of the night. The ninth and final try came in the eighty-first minute as Zac Ward picked up the ball and powered past a number of tired Racing bodies to dive under the posts. Jack Murphy converted all three late tries, sealing the phenomenal 61-7 victory and a five-point haul to begin their Challenge Cup campaign.
Teams
ULSTER
1 Sam Crean, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Harry Sheridan, 5 Charlie Irvine, 6 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney ©, 8 Juarno Augustus, 9 Nathan Doak, 10 Jack Murphy, 11 Zac Ward, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 13 James Hume, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 15 Jacob Stockdale
Replacements
16 Tom Stewart, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Joe Hopes, 20 Bryn Ward, 21 Conor McKee, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Stewart Moore
RACING 92
1 Édouard Jabea Njocke, 2 Yanis Basse, 3 Gia Kharaishvili, 4 Junior Kpoku, 5 Will Rowlands ©, 6 Fabian Sanconnie, 7 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 8 Noa Zinzen, 9 Kléo Labarbe, 10 Antoine Gibert, 11 Wilfried Hulleu, 12 Vladi Ashveita, 13 Sam James, 14 Nolann Donguy, 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli
Replacements
16 Diego Escobar, 17 Herman Coetzee, 18 Lehopa Leota, 19 Maxime Baudonne, 20 Jonny Hill, 21 Auguste Albuisson, 22 Léo Carbonneau, 23 Arthur Espeut
Scorers
ULSTER
Tries: Stockdale (2), Herring, Stewart, O'Toole, Wilson, Flannery, Ward (2)
Con: Murphy (8)
RACING 92
Tries: Gibert
Con: Gibert
Player of the Match
The EPCR Challenge Cup Player of the Match was awarded to David McCann.
