Ospreys 31 Ulster 20

Match report by Neil Carnduff Ulster encountered further disappointment on the road in Wales this evening, conceding four tries as a classy Ospreys side mounted to the top of the Guinness Pro12 standings. Tries from Rob Herring and Tommy Bowe in a second-half revival from Ulster weren’t quite enough for the visitors to take anything away from the Liberty Stadium, where a scintillating two-try display from scrum-half Rhys Webb and exemplary kicking from out-half Dan Biggar left the result in little doubt. Two changes from the starting XV defeated last week by the Scarlets in the European Rugby Champions Cup saw Michael Allen selected on the wing in place of the rested Craig Gilroy, and Andrew Warwick picked at loosehead, with Callum Black on the bench. Elsewhere, Louis Ludik lined up at full-back, with Bowe occupying the right wing, Darren Cave and Luke Marshall in the centre, and Ian Humphreys and Ruan Pienaar in the half-back berths. Rory Best and Declan Fitzpatrick joined Warwick in the front row, backed up by an unchanged second row of Dan Tuohy and Franco van der Merwe, and the back row triumvirate of Robbie Diack, Clive Ross and Roger Wilson. With the prospect of a bonus-point win for either side taking the victors to the top of the Guinness Pro12 table, the Ospreys took an early lead courtesy of a Biggar penalty on three minutes, before a slick counter-attack spearheaded by Best took Ulster well into the Ospreys’ ‘22’ until they knocked on five metres from home. Humphreys drew the sides level on 14 minutes with a penalty from just past half-way, but parity was short-lived as the Ospreys’ skipper Alun Wyn Jones ripped the Ulster rearguard asunder three minutes later, brushing off a handful of tackles to create the space for Biggar to race home under the posts. Biggar’s own score duly converted, the Ospreys came close again moments later after good acceleration from Ashley Beck, and Ulster did themselves no favours as both Humphreys and Pienaar missed touch with penalties kicked from the hand. The Ospreys continued to dominate past the half-hour mark, providing the more expansive rugby and offloading particularly well, until Webb picked up from lock Rynier Bernardo on 36 minutes to run over his sixth Pro12 try of the season, converted again by Biggar. Ulster had just enough time before half-time to put together their best attack of the match, first through a rolling maul marshalled by Best, then, after a knock-on from both sides as the Ospreys first regained then re-lost possession, Humphreys kept a cool head to pick up on the left wing, sidestep a would-be tackler and cross the whitewash to ground behind the posts. However, multiple replays with input from TMO Tim Hughes, referee Neil Paterson and assistant referee Nigel Owens saw the try disallowed for the double knock-on after several minutes’ deliberation, sending Ulster off at the break 14 points adrift. Half-Time Score Ospreys 17 Ulster 3 With Paul Marshall replacing the injured Pienaar at half-time, Ulster started the second period with verve, earning a penalty at the scrum on 42 minutes, dispatched from in front of the posts by Humphreys. However the Ospreys put together another fluent move five minutes later, culminating in a second try of the night for Webb after a powerful drive from Josh Matavesi and sharp wingplay from Walker. Biggar converted once more after the TMO had reviewed Walker’s contribution to the try and found no reason to disallow the score, and kicked a penalty to touch on 53 minutes as the Ospreys pushed to secure the bonus-point fourth try. This came two minutes later, Hanno Dirksen picking up five metres from home and driving over despite the attentions of Humphreys and Allen. Another conversion sunk by Biggar, multiple personnel changes seemed to reinvigorate Ulster as replacement hooker Herring grabbed his first try of the season off the back of a rolling maul, converted by Humphreys. Better still came on 67 minutes, Bowe running a perfect diagonal to pick up from Paul Marshall and ground under the posts for his first try against his former team since re-joining Ulster from the Swansea club in 2012. With the deficit reduced to 11 points thanks to Humphreys’ conversion, a frantic final 10 minutes saw Ulster chasing a losing bonus point in vain, as the Ospreys’ defence held firm to ensure the visitors left empty-handed. Next up for Ulster are two interprovincial derbies with Connacht the visitors to the Kingspan Stadium on Boxing Day before Neil Doak’s men face Leinster at the RDS on Saturday 3^rd January. Full-Time Score Ospreys 31 Ulster 20 Ospreys (15 – 9) D Evans; H Dirksen, A Beck, J Matavesi, E Walker; D Biggar, R Webb (1 – 8) M Thomas, S Baldwin, D Arhip, R Bernardo, A Wyn Jones (c), J King, J Tipuric, T Ardron Replacements (16 – 23) S Parry, G Thomas, D Suter, D Lydiate, S Lewis, M Roberts, S Davies, A Bishop Ulster (15 – 9) L Ludik; T Bowe, D Cave, L Marshall, M Allen; I Humphreys, R Pienaar (1 – 8) A Warwick, R Best (c), D Fitzpatrick, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Ross, R Wilson Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, C Black, C Ross, A O’Connor, S Reidy, P Marshall, S Olding, P Nelson