The Ulster men have not lost back-to-back matches at the Kingspan Stadium in the league since December 2010, and today wasn’t going to be the day to break this record.
An early sliced kick by Ospreys out-half Jack Walsh set the tone, putting the away team under immediate pressure. This led to a try for, eventual Player of the Match, Luke Marshall and was created by Ian Madigan with under two minutes played. John Cooney continued his impeccable kicking form from last week adding the extras.
Greater kicking accuracy from Ulster giving more momentum and further pressure on the opposition leading to hooker John Andrew going over from a well worked lineout. A much tougher kick than the first and yet Cooney slotted the conversion leading to a 14-0 lead in under nine minutes
A huge gap in the Ulster midfield meant a line break for Ospreys number 8, Morgan Morris, with a superb covering tackle by fullback Lowry. A penalty soon followed leading to the Welsh team performing their own well worked lineout building to a try for flanker Jac Morgan. Jack Walsh had a chance for some redemption adding 2 points, making 14-7 with 13 minutes played. An exciting start to the game!
Lovely feet from Lowry, mixed with beautiful hands from Marshall, brought Ulster back into the red zone. A moment of magic from the man who’s returned from international duty, Vermeulen, and the familiar dancing toes from Gilroy finished with a try from Nick Timoney… or so we thought, until the TMO cancelled it for being held up and the ball not being grounded.
From the succeeding goal line drop out, it allowed the men in white time to build. Michael Lowry with some great kick management pushing Ospreys back once again. Forward effort plus another pulsating Stuart McCloskey run providing the catalyst to end with a try right under the posts by second row Sam Carter. Cooney keeping a perfect kicking record. 21-7.
Miscommunication by Ulster at first receiver allowed Ospreys to gain a scrum in the centre of the park at the 10-metre line which was then upgraded to a penalty. Jack Walsh brought Ulster’s lead back to 11 points with a 3 point kick.
Yet more tactical precision kicking from the home team, this time from Marshall, giving the Ulster men another catch and drive opportunity which unfortunately couldn’t be converted after a knock on so close to the posts.
That wasn’t going to stop the Ulster boys, and after a fine offload out of the tackle and lovely take from Stuart McCloskey, Ulster maintained patience and with Luke Marshall cutting a fine line combined with a perfectly timed pass by Cooney, made it 28-10 and a bonus pointed gained with 5 minutes to play of the half.
Half time: Ulster 28-Ospreys 10
There was no let up from the home team, at the beginning of the second half, as great sleight of hand from Michael Lowry created space for teammate Stuart McCloskey to go over in the corner. 33-10 with just over 3 minutes of the second half played
The moves kept coming as some beautiful interplay between scrum half Cooney and winger Gilroy nearly led for another try moments later, only a forward pass to put stoppage to that.
Ospreys began being a bit more adventurous to try and turn the tide of Ulster’s white line fever but the pressure from the home team was relentless.
In the 60th minute, the Ospreys found a moment of reprieve with a penalty of their own creating a lineout close to the Ulster line. They couldn’t make it count after some patient defence and a great retrieval from Andrew meaning a turn over and the ball going down to the other end of the pitch.
There was a shuffle in the backline for Ulster after Billy Burns went off with an injury. This was on top of seeing Ian Madigan not finish the first half 100%. However, this, didn’t change momentum and couldn’t stop try number 6 as Sam Carter went over for his second try having a remarkable game. Cooney adding the extras to make it 40 points to 10.
An overthrown Ospreys lineout meant John Andrew could rocket forward and get the ball threw Ulster hands and a couple of breaks leading to the try line. However, in their anxiety to cross the line they held on too long and were penalised. This didn’t deter them for long, as try 7 beckoned and was heralded through a great scramble and stretch by Marcus Rea.
There was a late consolation try by Osprey's number 8 Morgan Morris who had strong runs all night and was rewarded for his efforts. Jack Walsh adding the conversion to sound the final whistle.
Following the disappointing defeat last week, a 7 try blitz was a fantastic response from this squad with anticipation building for a South African fortnight visit around the corner.
Full Time: Ulster 47 – Ospreys 17
Worth Another Look
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Michael Lowry with the BEAUTIFUL sleight of hand! 👏 <a href="<https://twitter.com/hashtag/BKTURC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BKTURC</a>> <a href="<https://twitter.com/hashtag/URC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#URC</a>> | <a href="<https://twitter.com/hashtag/ULSvOSP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ULSvOSP</a>> <a href="<https://t.co/xhdOqygI5J">pic.twitter.com/xhdOqygI5J</a></p>&mdash>; BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) <a href="<https://twitter.com/URCOfficial/status/1578841007012995072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October> 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="<https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js>" charset="utf-8"></script>
Scorers
Ulster
Tries: Luke Marshall (2), John Andrew, Sam Carter (2), Stuart McCloskey, Marcus Rea
Cons: John Cooney (5)
Ospreys
Tries: Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris
Cons: Jack Walsh (2)
Pens: Jack Walsh
Line Ups
Ulster
(15-9): Michael Lowry, Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Rob Lyttle, Ian Madigan, John Cooney
(1-8): Eric O’Sullivan, John Andrew, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (Captain), Sam Carter, Nick Timoney, Jordi Murphy, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Declan Moore, Andy Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Frank Bradshaw-Ryan, Marcus Rea, Dave Shanahan, Billy Burns, Aaron Sexton
Ospreys
(15-9): Max Nagy, Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Michael Collins, Keelan Giles, Jack Walsh, Reuben Morgan Williams
(1-8): Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Huw Sutton, Will Griffiths (Captain), Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris<br>
Replacements<br>
Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Rhys Henry, Jack Regan, Harri Deaves, Rhys Webb, Cai Evans, Joe Hawkins