With eleven minutes played, Ulster had the first tangible chance of the game. After a couple of strong carries from captain, Iain Henderson, gave a clever inside offload to Tom Stewart. Stewart showed good pace, throwing an offload of his own, out the back door, to Nathan Doak. Ulster threatened for a number of phases but lost possession at the breakdown. Irish international winger, Mack Hanson, looked to counter-attack from his own try area, but was stopped, as Henderson attempted to turn back possession. However, the skipper was penalised on this occasion and Connacht could clear their lines.
On 14 minutes, Ulster may have had an another opportunity to attack as Finlay Bealham was penalised for coming into the ruck from the side. Doak kicked Ulster into the Connacht 22, but an overthrow at the line out once again allowed Jack Carty to clear upfield.
With twenty minutes played, the game remained scoreless. With Connacht going forward in attack, Ethan McIlroy did well to read the play, jump out of the line, and intercept a pass from Carty. The covering defence did well to work back but McIlroy was able to get Ulster into opposition territory. After losing possession in the tackle, the Connacht pack were energised by winning the first scrum penalty of the day.
Another opportunity came and went for Ulster as they were awarded a scrum on the Connacht 22. Luke Marshall ran a good hard line, but was met by Bundee Aki, with a good hard tackle. In the next phase, there was another loss of possession and the chance missed.
Shortly after, an offside penalty allowed Doak to kick back into the Connacht 22. Ulster were forced to pull off the back of the maul as the Connacht pack did well to bring it to a stop, but they were penalised once again. Playing with the advantage, Ulster moved the ball with Tom Stewart finding Ethan McIlroy on the loop. McIlroy managed to get his arms free and find Luke Marshall in support. Marshall’s pass appeared to be knocked forward, but on second look it was clear that it was knocked back by a Connacht defender. Rob Lyttle wasn’t fooled, darting through to ground the ball for the opening try. With half an hour played, Ulster were 5-0 up, with Cooney pushing the conversion.
It didn’t take long for Connacht to bring the difference back to two points as Jack Carty successfully kicked a penalty after an infringement by the Ulster men. With time ticking down towards the break, neither team were able to make any further impressions on the scoreboard.
HALF TIME Connacht 3 - 5 Ulster
Ulster started the half promisingly, dominating both territory and possession. An obvious side entry from Connacht gifted Ulster a line out in an attacking position. This time, Ulster’s maul couldn’t be stopped, allowing Tom Stewart to ground the ball for his fifth try of the season. Cooney’s conversion was successful this time giving Ulster a 12-3 lead after 46 minutes.
After a mistake from Tiernan O’Halloran, kicking the ball out on the full, Ulster found themselves with another line out platform in the Connacht 22. The first drive was brought to deck illegally, so the ball was kicked deeper into the corner, giving Ulster another attempt in a better position. Stewart peeled off the back, but from the next phase Bundee Aki was able to strip the ball on the deck from Marty Moore. The ball was grounded, but the Television Match Official confirmed that it was by Aki. Play would resume with an Ulster scrum, five metres out. After a carry from McCloskey, the Connacht crowd were pleased as the men in green appeared with the ball and were able to clear their lines, but only as far as the 22.
Good carries from David McCann, Nick Timoney, and a snipe from Cooney, paid dividends as Connacht coughed up another penalty close to their try line. Time for a maul, and time for another Ulster try, another for Stewart. This time he had some more work to do, peeling off and grounding after rolling out of the attempted tackle. Cooney added extras taking the score to Ulster 19, Connacht 3.
Connacht were looking for a response. With improving play in attack, Doak was caught offside handing Connacht an opportunity of their own. They set up their maul and then looked to play. This time Marshall was penalised for not rolling away, and now Connacht found themselves with a throw in, 5 metres from the line. The maul was stopped, but scrum half Caolin Blade was not, as he darted from the back and muscled his way to the whitewash. This one went unconverted.
Ulster were inches from the bonus point try, doing what they do best, with a dominant rolling maul. But Peter Dooley did remarkably well to hold up Stewart short of the line, winning a crucial turn over for the home team.
Connacht second row Niall Murray was caught rolling out of the ruck in the wrong way, obstructing play. Henderson opted on this occasion to allow Cooney to go for goal. The scrum half made no mistake, extending the Ulster lead to 22-8 with under ten minutes left.
A collapsed scrum in Ulster territory, by the Ulster front row meant Connacht could set up an attack six metres out. Henderson looked to have disrupted the play, but was adjudged to have knocked it on deliberately, giving Connacht another platform to attack from. They went through the phases and Greg Jones was shown a yellow card after a number of Ulster offences during play. With the man advantage Connacht, and Cian Pendergast looked to have barged his way over. However, after consulting with the TMO, the try was chalked off. The penalty advantage meant Connacht would restart play in possession. Roll on to the next play and Jarrad Butler was able to cross the line. Carty’s conversion was successful and it was back to a seven point game with a minute left to play.
With the clock in the red, the home team started to throw the kitchen sink at Ulster, moving the ball edge the edge, all the while progressing up the field. That progress took them right to the try line, with Adam Byrne crossing for a remarkable try, with the conversion to come. The result of the game, and a possible draw, would come down to the boot of Jack Carty with a difficult conversion attempt. Ulster fans, staring through their fingers, were relieved to watch the ball drift left of the uprights meaning Ulster would leave Galway with a two-point win.
FULL TIME Connacht 20 - 22 Ulster
Scorers
Connacht
Tries: Blade, Butler, Byrne
Conversion: Carty
Penalties: Carty
Ulster
Tries: Lyttle, Stewart (2)
Conversion: Cooney (2)
Penalties: Cooney
####
Line-Ups
Connacht
(15-9) Tiernan O’Halloran, John Porch, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Jack Carty (Captain), Caolin Blade<br>
(1-8) Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Josh Murphy, Niall Murray, Oisín Dowling, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler, Kieran Marmion, David Hawkshaw, Adam Byrne
Ulster
(15-9): Mike Lowry, Ethan McIlroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Rob Lyttle, Nathan Doak, John Cooney;
(1-8): Rory Sutherland; Tom Stewart; Marty Moore; Alan O'Connor; Iain Henderson (Captain); David McCann; Marcus Rea; Nick Timoney.
Replacements: John Andrew; Eric O'Sullivan; Gareth Milasinovich; Sam Carter; Greg Jones; Dave Shanahan; Jake Flannery; Stewart Moore.
Player of the Match
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tom Stewart... Your <a href="<https://twitter.com/URCOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@URCOfficial</a>> Player of the Match 🏅👏 <a href="<https://t.co/m81hUyxCYb">pic.twitter.com/m81hUyxCYb</a></p>&mdash>; Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) <a href="<https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/1606406411231141917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December> 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="<https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js>" charset="utf-8"></script>
Worth Another Look
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Those last five mins... <a href="<https://t.co/Ew2MYet0df">pic.twitter.com/Ew2MYet0df</a></p>&mdash>; Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) <a href="<https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/1606404821719949338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December> 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="<https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js>" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rob Lyttle 👏<br><br>What a finish! <br><br> <a href="<https://t.co/hWiHn9xV3t">pic.twitter.com/hWiHn9xV3t</a></p>&mdash>; Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) <a href="<https://twitter.com/UlsterRugby/status/1606414067530432514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December> 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="<https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js>" charset="utf-8"></script>