SCARLETS 24 ULSTER 25

Ulster’s 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup campaign exploded into life tonight at the Parc y Scarlets as Dan McFarland’s side landed a fully-deserved bonus point victory to pile the pressure on Pool Four rivals Racing 92 and Leicester Tigers. Marcell Coetzee grounded the winning try halfway through the second period after scores from Jacob Stockdale, Henry Speight and Will Addison, but just as impressive as the potent Ulster firepower was their defensive display, with a huge tackle count of 174 indicative of the effort put in from one to 15. Ulster now sit second in the pool on nine points, with Racing and Leicester to meet on Sunday at Welford Road. Ireland internationals Addison and Iain Henderson made welcome returns to the starting XV in Llanelli, taking over from James Hume and Alan O’Connor respectively, while Rory Best and Stockdale, named as replacements Saturday last against Cardiff, also got starting berths. Eric O’Sullivan and Marty Moore completed the front row either side of skipper Best, with last week’s try-scorer Kieran Treadwell partnering Henderson at lock, and a back row of flankers Sean Reidy and Jordi Murphy, and Number Eight Coetzee. In the backline Louis Ludik shifted to full-back, with Speight and Stockdale on the wings, Stuart McCloskey teaming with Addison in midfield, and the half-back pairing of Billy Burns and John Cooney. First blood went to Scarlets courtesy of Rhys Patchell’s early penalty, but after a fine break from Speight off Addison’s kick, the hosts could count themselves lucky to only concede three points when Cooney opened his account with a penalty of his own. The warning shot went unheeded, however, and in Ulster’s very next attack good footwork in midfield from Addison set Stockdale away down the left, the winger eluding a somewhat hesitant Steff Evans and Gareth Davies 10 metres from the line before crossing to touch down. Cooney’s conversion and a later penalty spun wide in the swirling wind, but Ulster continued to dominate in both open play and set piece, and as the Scarlets penalty count ramped up the visitors made two more promising forays into the opposition ‘22’. Scarlets began to find their way around the 25-minute mark, Davies and Evans combining much more efficiently in attack than they had earlier done in defence, and the winger grabbing the five points after a sustained period of pressure. Patchell converted, and with Nick Timoney replacing Reidy – the recipient of a bang to the head in a tackle on Lewis Rawlins – Ulster showed that their strong start had been far from a flash in the pan, with Speight touching down in the right hand corner on 35 minutes after sterling work five metres out from his forwards. Half-Time Score Scarlets 10 Ulster 13 More of the same from Ulster as the second half began saw the visitors set up camp in the Scarlets half, eventually forcing a penalty for a collapsed scrum on 48 minutes, and Addison sneaking through a gap in the Scarlets defence to score off Cooney’s pass after a well-executed lineout. With a four-try bonus now very much a prospect, Ulster first had to weather the inevitable Scarlets backlash, defending stoutly for a good 10 minutes until Best forced a turnover off his opposite number Ken Owens to buy his side some breathing space. Scarlets came again, however, and Evans was soon touching down his second of the game on the hour mark, courtesy of a defence-splitting dummy from full-back Johnny McNicholl. Only three points ahead now, Ulster fully realised the need to strike back quickly, and Coetzee was the man to secure the bonus point five minutes later with a dive to the right-hand corner flag after both Timoney and McCloskey had come close. Eight points adrift with as many minutes remaining, Scarlets threw everything but the kitchen sink at Ulster, Evans coming close to snatching his hat trick on 75 minutes only to be bundled into touch two metres from home by a combination of Speight and Ludik. There was still time for one last raid, with replacement Dan Davis rolling over with mere seconds to go, and Dan Jones’s conversion closing the gap to a single point with enough time for a restart. The clock ran on well into 84 minutes before Scarlets were eventually stopped in their tracks for not releasing in the tackle, setting up for a mouth-watering return fixture at the Kingspan Stadium in a week’s time. Full-Time Score Scarlets 24 Ulster 25 Scarlets (15 – 9) Johnny McNicholl; Tom Prydie, Jonathan Davies, Kieron Fonotia, Steff Evans; Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies (1 – 8) Rob Evans, Ken Owens (c), Samson Lee, Lewis Rawlins, David Bulbring, Will Boyde, James Davies, Uzair Cassiem Replacements (16 – 23) Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, Steven Cummins, Dan Davis, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Dan Jones, Hadleigh Parkes Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Henry Speight, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney (1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rory Best (c), Marty Moore, Iain Henderson, Kieran Treadwell, Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee Replacements (16 – 23) Rob Herring, Kyle McCall, Tom O’Toole, Matthew Rea, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Johnny McPhillips, Darren Cave Match report by Neil Carnduff