Ulster's 100% start to the 2018-19 Guinness Pro14 campaign continued this afternoon in Port Elizabeth as first senior tries in white and red for Marcell Coetzee, Angus Kernohan and Angus Curtis edged out a combative Southern Kings side.
While Head Coach Dan McFarland may be left to rue the missed opportunity of a four-try bonus point against a team that Ulster put seven touchdowns past in the corresponding fixture last term, there are multiple positives to be taken from the result, not least flanker Coetzee’s best performance in an Ulster shirt to date.
Encouragement will also be taken from the performances of replacements Kernohan and Curtis, who both took their tries well, and that of David Shanahan, who impressed at scrum-half for 50 minutes once first-choice number nine John Cooney had succumbed to a head injury.
Ulster lined up with one enforced change to the backline, with full-back Will Addison a late withdrawal due to illness, and Peter Nelson taking over. Elsewhere, Men of the Match against Scarlets and Edinburgh, Stuart McCloskey and Craig Gilroy, started at centre and wing respectively, with wing Henry Speight, centre Darren Cave, out-half Billy Burns and the in-form Cooney – with 35 points under his belt already this term – completing the line.
Three changes up front brought in Tom O’Toole for Ross Kane at prop, Alan O’Connor at lock in place of Iain Henderson, who did not travel to South Africa, and Sean Reidy for Jordi Murphy, who picked up an injury on his debut against the Scots. Meanwhile prop Andrew Warwick, hooker Rob Herring, lock Kieran Treadwell, and back rowers Coetzee and Nick Timoney all retained their places.
Ulster enjoyed all the early possession, opting for the posts with the second of two penalties within the first four minutes as the Kings laboured to keep them at bay by both hook and crook. Cooney added a second kick on 10 minutes, and once the Kings had shown their offensive prowess on a brief but speedy foray into the Ulster half, a sixth penalty had referee Sam Grove-White warning captain Mike Willemse.
Flanker Tiene Burger paid the price for his side’s persistent infringing with a trip to the bin on 20 minutes, but was soon to be kept company by O’Connor, shown a yellow after TMO intervention for a no-arms entry into a ruck three metres from the try-line, which also saw Cooney’s subsequent touchdown scrubbed off the scoreboard.
The Kings’ discipline failed to improve despite Burger’s sanction, however, and Cooney soon added a third penalty just before another Kings breakaway again illustrated their threat on the counter, Burns and Treadwell just closing down Yaw Penxe as he chased Masixole Banda’s lineward punt.
A gash to the head for Cooney brought Shanahan into action eight minutes from the break, and despite all of Ulster’s dominance – and the Kings’ indiscipline – throughout the half, it was the hosts who closed it out with a try of their own ruled out by the TMO – and the visitors with another man in the bin.
This time Herring was the recipient of the marching orders for collapsing a maul as the Kings pushed for the line in a drive which saw Burger stretch over, only for the score to be disallowed for the flanker taking up the ball when off his feet. Stern defence from Ulster and a fine turnover from Coetzee at the resulting penalty ensured the visitors ran off at half-time with a clean sheet.
Half-Time Score Kings 0 Ulster 9
The Kings’ score eventually did come within three minutes of the restart, once again through a potent driving maul, this time finished legally by Willemse and converted by Banda.
Ten minutes of untidy play from both sides followed, before Ulster finally settled back into their stride and scrummaged their way over the line at the third attempt, Coetzee applying the finishing touch for his first try in Ulster colours.
Burns proved an able deputy for Cooney as he dispatched the conversion, and was soon called upon again when Kernohan – a recent entrant for Cave – gobbled up Shanahan’s neat pass from the back of a maul to dive in at the left-hand corner flag.
This time Burns’ kick swung wide, but with a 14-point cushion and 15 minutes remaining, Ulster thoughts turned rather to the bonus point that a further two tries would bring.
Reidy came close to grabbing the first on 71 minutes, bursting down the left flank from Shanahan’s offload, but knocked on under a heavy cover tackle five metres from the line.
The next chance was too slow to come however, Curtis eventually touching down in the last move of the match after alert play at the breakdown from both Shanahan and McCloskey, the scrum-half scooping the ball over his opponents’ reach to the centre, who palmed on for the youngster to score.
Nelson’s conversion closed out the encounter at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with Ulster now travelling to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein for a match-up with the Cheetahs in five days’ time.
Full-Time Score Southern Kings 7 Ulster 28
Southern Kings (15 – 9) Michael Botha; Yaw Penxe, Harlon Klaasen, Berton Klaasen, Bjorn Basson; Masixole Banda, Godlen Masimla
(1 – 8) Schalk Ferreira, Mike Willemse (c), Luvuyo Pupuma, Jean-Charles Astle, Bobby De Wee, Stephan De Wit, Tiene Burger, Andisa Ntsila
Replacements (16 – 23) Alandre Van Rooyen, Xandre Vos, Justin Forwood, Lubabalo Mtyanda , Ruaan Lerm, Rudi Van Rooyen, Martin Du Toit, Ntabeni Dukisa
Ulster (15 – 9) Will Addison; Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Henry Speight; Billy Burns, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring (c), Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Marcell Coetzee, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney
Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Ed O’Sullivan, Wiehahn Herbst, Jean Deysel, Matthew Rea, David Shanahan, Angus Curtis, Angus Kernohan
While Head Coach Dan McFarland may be left to rue the missed opportunity of a four-try bonus point against a team that Ulster put seven touchdowns past in the corresponding fixture last term, there are multiple positives to be taken from the result, not least flanker Coetzee’s best performance in an Ulster shirt to date.
Encouragement will also be taken from the performances of replacements Kernohan and Curtis, who both took their tries well, and that of David Shanahan, who impressed at scrum-half for 50 minutes once first-choice number nine John Cooney had succumbed to a head injury.
Ulster lined up with one enforced change to the backline, with full-back Will Addison a late withdrawal due to illness, and Peter Nelson taking over. Elsewhere, Men of the Match against Scarlets and Edinburgh, Stuart McCloskey and Craig Gilroy, started at centre and wing respectively, with wing Henry Speight, centre Darren Cave, out-half Billy Burns and the in-form Cooney – with 35 points under his belt already this term – completing the line.
Three changes up front brought in Tom O’Toole for Ross Kane at prop, Alan O’Connor at lock in place of Iain Henderson, who did not travel to South Africa, and Sean Reidy for Jordi Murphy, who picked up an injury on his debut against the Scots. Meanwhile prop Andrew Warwick, hooker Rob Herring, lock Kieran Treadwell, and back rowers Coetzee and Nick Timoney all retained their places.
Ulster enjoyed all the early possession, opting for the posts with the second of two penalties within the first four minutes as the Kings laboured to keep them at bay by both hook and crook. Cooney added a second kick on 10 minutes, and once the Kings had shown their offensive prowess on a brief but speedy foray into the Ulster half, a sixth penalty had referee Sam Grove-White warning captain Mike Willemse.
Flanker Tiene Burger paid the price for his side’s persistent infringing with a trip to the bin on 20 minutes, but was soon to be kept company by O’Connor, shown a yellow after TMO intervention for a no-arms entry into a ruck three metres from the try-line, which also saw Cooney’s subsequent touchdown scrubbed off the scoreboard.
The Kings’ discipline failed to improve despite Burger’s sanction, however, and Cooney soon added a third penalty just before another Kings breakaway again illustrated their threat on the counter, Burns and Treadwell just closing down Yaw Penxe as he chased Masixole Banda’s lineward punt.
A gash to the head for Cooney brought Shanahan into action eight minutes from the break, and despite all of Ulster’s dominance – and the Kings’ indiscipline – throughout the half, it was the hosts who closed it out with a try of their own ruled out by the TMO – and the visitors with another man in the bin.
This time Herring was the recipient of the marching orders for collapsing a maul as the Kings pushed for the line in a drive which saw Burger stretch over, only for the score to be disallowed for the flanker taking up the ball when off his feet. Stern defence from Ulster and a fine turnover from Coetzee at the resulting penalty ensured the visitors ran off at half-time with a clean sheet.
Half-Time Score Kings 0 Ulster 9
The Kings’ score eventually did come within three minutes of the restart, once again through a potent driving maul, this time finished legally by Willemse and converted by Banda.
Ten minutes of untidy play from both sides followed, before Ulster finally settled back into their stride and scrummaged their way over the line at the third attempt, Coetzee applying the finishing touch for his first try in Ulster colours.
Burns proved an able deputy for Cooney as he dispatched the conversion, and was soon called upon again when Kernohan – a recent entrant for Cave – gobbled up Shanahan’s neat pass from the back of a maul to dive in at the left-hand corner flag.
This time Burns’ kick swung wide, but with a 14-point cushion and 15 minutes remaining, Ulster thoughts turned rather to the bonus point that a further two tries would bring.
Reidy came close to grabbing the first on 71 minutes, bursting down the left flank from Shanahan’s offload, but knocked on under a heavy cover tackle five metres from the line.
The next chance was too slow to come however, Curtis eventually touching down in the last move of the match after alert play at the breakdown from both Shanahan and McCloskey, the scrum-half scooping the ball over his opponents’ reach to the centre, who palmed on for the youngster to score.
Nelson’s conversion closed out the encounter at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with Ulster now travelling to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein for a match-up with the Cheetahs in five days’ time.
Full-Time Score Southern Kings 7 Ulster 28
Southern Kings (15 – 9) Michael Botha; Yaw Penxe, Harlon Klaasen, Berton Klaasen, Bjorn Basson; Masixole Banda, Godlen Masimla
(1 – 8) Schalk Ferreira, Mike Willemse (c), Luvuyo Pupuma, Jean-Charles Astle, Bobby De Wee, Stephan De Wit, Tiene Burger, Andisa Ntsila
Replacements (16 – 23) Alandre Van Rooyen, Xandre Vos, Justin Forwood, Lubabalo Mtyanda , Ruaan Lerm, Rudi Van Rooyen, Martin Du Toit, Ntabeni Dukisa
Ulster (15 – 9) Will Addison; Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Henry Speight; Billy Burns, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring (c), Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Marcell Coetzee, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney
Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Ed O’Sullivan, Wiehahn Herbst, Jean Deysel, Matthew Rea, David Shanahan, Angus Curtis, Angus Kernohan