Iain Henderson's maiden captaincy ended in triumph tonight at the Kingspan Stadium as a two-try suckerpunch from Jacob Stockdale and Stuart McCloskey knocked Wasps out cold in the first round of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The 54th and 56th-minute tries illuminated a hitherto uninspired encounter, setting up for a grandstand final quarter where some nerveless kicking from Christian Lealiifano added six points to an earlier John Cooney penalty, thereby denying the visitors the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Three personnel changes from the XV who took on Connacht last week in the Guinness Pro14 brought in Louis Ludik on the right wing, and a new flanker partnership of Robbie Diack and Sean Reidy.
Elsewhere Charles Piutau faced his former club at full-back, with Luke Marshall and McCloskey in the centre and Stockdale, winning try-scorer against Connacht, on the left wing.
The half-back partnership of Lealiifano and Cooney made their European debuts for the province, as did Jean Deysel at Number Eight. The front five, meanwhile, lined up with Kyle McCall and Wiehahn Herbst either side of hooker Rob Herring, with Kieran Treadwell and skipper Henderson in the second row.
Ulster saw plenty of ball in the first half but struggled to find real fluency and, disappointingly for the team with the highest lineout success rate in the 2016/17 tournament, lost three of their own put-ins in the first 40 minutes.
Elliot Daly got proceedings underway on four minutes with a penalty from barely inside the Ulster half, a kick which Cooney attempted to emulate five minutes later from a similar distance, only to drag to the right of the posts.
But when Stockdale ripped through the centre of the Wasps defence moments later and the Englishmen infringed again, the scrum-half took advantage of the simplest of kicks to restore parity.
Wasps began dropping like flies as first Tom Cruse then Brendan Macken were replaced in quick succession by Ashley Johnson and Rob Miller, and as both sides contrived to cheaply surrender possession at dead-ball plays, real try-scoring opportunities were in scant supply,
Cooney did well to chase and touch down a Wasps grubber as the visitors made a rare break down the left flank just before the half-hour, and Ulster showed their defensive mettle as they heartily resisted the subsequent five-metre scrum then rolling maul; Wasps eventually settling for a Jimmy Gopperth penalty with the last kick of the half.
Half-Time Score Ulster 3 Wasps 6
Yet another lost lineout – this time on their own ‘22’ – drew an infringement from McCloskey and gifted Gopperth another three points seven minutes from the restart.
Then the tide turned. Quick hands from Marshall soon got Ulster moving in the right direction, and a close-range penalty to touch brought the best opportunity of the game to date, Lealifano adjudged to have grounded just short of the line by the TMO.
There was no doubt about Stockdale’s touchdown two minutes later, however, as Piutau’s diagonal burst demolished the Wasps rearguard from a strong Ulster maul and fed the in-form winger for a fine finish in the corner.
The two combined again virtually from the kick-off as the ball moved from 15 to 11, Srockdale doing well to loop a high pass to McCloskey just before he was dragged out of play, and the centre applying the finishing touch under pressure.
Lealiifano gave Ulster breathing space on 69 minutes with a penalty, Cooney having made way for Paul Marshall. Seven points ahead, Wasps’ cause was hurt further when Josh Bassett saw yellow on 74 minutes for a high tackle on Ludik, and Lealiifano, the calmest man in the Kingspan, slotted home to give his side clear daylight.
Round Two sees Ulster travel to La Rochelle for an intriguing encounter on Sunday 22 October at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
Full-Time Score Ulster 19 Wasps 9
Ulster (15 – 9) Charles Piutau; Louis Ludik, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Kyle McCall, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (c), Robbie Diack, Sean Reidy, Jean Deysel
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Callum Black, Rodney Ah You, Matthew Rea, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Tommy Bowe
Wasps (15 – 9) Willie Le Roux; Christian Wade, Elliot Daly, Brendan Macken, Josh Bassett; Jimmy Gopperth, Dan Robson
(1 – 8) Matt Mullan, Tom Cruse, Jake Cooper-Woolley, Joe Launchbury (c), Will Rowlands, James Haskell, Thomas Young, Nathan Hughes
Replacements (16 – 23) Ashley Johnson, Simon McIntyre, Marty Moore, James Gaskell, Jack Willis, Joe Simpson, Rob Miller, Marcus Watson
The 54th and 56th-minute tries illuminated a hitherto uninspired encounter, setting up for a grandstand final quarter where some nerveless kicking from Christian Lealiifano added six points to an earlier John Cooney penalty, thereby denying the visitors the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Three personnel changes from the XV who took on Connacht last week in the Guinness Pro14 brought in Louis Ludik on the right wing, and a new flanker partnership of Robbie Diack and Sean Reidy.
Elsewhere Charles Piutau faced his former club at full-back, with Luke Marshall and McCloskey in the centre and Stockdale, winning try-scorer against Connacht, on the left wing.
The half-back partnership of Lealiifano and Cooney made their European debuts for the province, as did Jean Deysel at Number Eight. The front five, meanwhile, lined up with Kyle McCall and Wiehahn Herbst either side of hooker Rob Herring, with Kieran Treadwell and skipper Henderson in the second row.
Ulster saw plenty of ball in the first half but struggled to find real fluency and, disappointingly for the team with the highest lineout success rate in the 2016/17 tournament, lost three of their own put-ins in the first 40 minutes.
Elliot Daly got proceedings underway on four minutes with a penalty from barely inside the Ulster half, a kick which Cooney attempted to emulate five minutes later from a similar distance, only to drag to the right of the posts.
But when Stockdale ripped through the centre of the Wasps defence moments later and the Englishmen infringed again, the scrum-half took advantage of the simplest of kicks to restore parity.
Wasps began dropping like flies as first Tom Cruse then Brendan Macken were replaced in quick succession by Ashley Johnson and Rob Miller, and as both sides contrived to cheaply surrender possession at dead-ball plays, real try-scoring opportunities were in scant supply,
Cooney did well to chase and touch down a Wasps grubber as the visitors made a rare break down the left flank just before the half-hour, and Ulster showed their defensive mettle as they heartily resisted the subsequent five-metre scrum then rolling maul; Wasps eventually settling for a Jimmy Gopperth penalty with the last kick of the half.
Half-Time Score Ulster 3 Wasps 6
Yet another lost lineout – this time on their own ‘22’ – drew an infringement from McCloskey and gifted Gopperth another three points seven minutes from the restart.
Then the tide turned. Quick hands from Marshall soon got Ulster moving in the right direction, and a close-range penalty to touch brought the best opportunity of the game to date, Lealifano adjudged to have grounded just short of the line by the TMO.
There was no doubt about Stockdale’s touchdown two minutes later, however, as Piutau’s diagonal burst demolished the Wasps rearguard from a strong Ulster maul and fed the in-form winger for a fine finish in the corner.
The two combined again virtually from the kick-off as the ball moved from 15 to 11, Srockdale doing well to loop a high pass to McCloskey just before he was dragged out of play, and the centre applying the finishing touch under pressure.
Lealiifano gave Ulster breathing space on 69 minutes with a penalty, Cooney having made way for Paul Marshall. Seven points ahead, Wasps’ cause was hurt further when Josh Bassett saw yellow on 74 minutes for a high tackle on Ludik, and Lealiifano, the calmest man in the Kingspan, slotted home to give his side clear daylight.
Round Two sees Ulster travel to La Rochelle for an intriguing encounter on Sunday 22 October at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
Full-Time Score Ulster 19 Wasps 9
Ulster (15 – 9) Charles Piutau; Louis Ludik, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Kyle McCall, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (c), Robbie Diack, Sean Reidy, Jean Deysel
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Callum Black, Rodney Ah You, Matthew Rea, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Tommy Bowe
Wasps (15 – 9) Willie Le Roux; Christian Wade, Elliot Daly, Brendan Macken, Josh Bassett; Jimmy Gopperth, Dan Robson
(1 – 8) Matt Mullan, Tom Cruse, Jake Cooper-Woolley, Joe Launchbury (c), Will Rowlands, James Haskell, Thomas Young, Nathan Hughes
Replacements (16 – 23) Ashley Johnson, Simon McIntyre, Marty Moore, James Gaskell, Jack Willis, Joe Simpson, Rob Miller, Marcus Watson