An 80th-minute try from replacement Declan Fitzpatrick added to Olding’s fine scores along with six points from Paddy Jackson and two from Ian Humphreys, as Ulster, minus their Irish international contingent, looked comfortable throughout against ninth-placed Dragons.
22-year-old winger Peter Nelson’s inclusion for his first cap of the campaign was one of seven personnel changes implemented by Head Coach Neil Doak after last Saturday’s defeat to Toulon, with an all-new centre partnership of Darren Cave and Stuart McCloskey, Callum Black and Rob Herring coming in to wear the number one and two jerseys, and an unfamiliar flanker pairing of Clive Ross and New Zealander Sean Reidy – the latter making his competitive debut for the province.
Elsewhere, Olding and Louis Ludik showed their versatility as they lined up at full-back and right wing respectively, while Paul Marshall and Jackson continued at nine and 10. In the pack, Wiehahn Herbst was again selected at tighthead, Lewis Stevenson and Franco van der Merwe retained their places in the second row, and Roger Wilson captained the side from the base of the scrum.
Pounding rain in South Belfast did little to hamper Ulster’s fluency, as five minutes’ excellent ball retention straight from the off put the Dragons under sustained pressure, culminating in a penalty which Jackson elected to kick to touch. With Robbie Diack an early entrant for the injured Wilson, enterprising runs from both McCloskey and Marshall served as a marker of Ulster’s intent, before a sharp kick from Olding just eluded Cave’s lunge as it crossed the Dragons’ try-line on 15 minutes.
Next to raise the Kingspan roof was Ludik, ghosting past five or six would-be tacklers in midfield before he was brought to ground, and with the Dragons offering next to nothing in terms of attacking threat during the brief periods of possession they enjoyed, Ulster took a deserved lead on 25 minutes courtesy of a Jackson penalty.
Just before the half-hour Cave engaged in his second sprint of the evening to the Dragons’ try-line as he chased Reidy’s punt forward and, although the centre was just out-paced once again, Jackson added a further penalty as play was brought back for a Dragons offside.
Olding, already heavily involved in the match in his role at full-back, showed all his credentials as an international-class centre on 32 minutes as he ran the perfect angle to pick up from Cave outside the Dragons’ ‘22’, and forced his way through several tackles for a fine individual try – his fifth in 22 PRO12 appearances.
With Jackson’s conversion striking the post, Ulster failed to add to their tally before the break – but there was just enough time for Dragons’ out-half Angus O’Brien to open his side’s account with a penalty, and for Ludik to join Wilson in the treatment room, as a knock saw him replaced by Ricky Andrew just before half-time.
Half-Time Score Ulster 11 Newport Gwent Dragons 3
Poor handling of a slippery ball put the Dragons right back under pressure early in the second period, and as Ulster probed after securing the ball from their own scrum, Olding was again in the right place at the right time to collect McCloskey’s palmed pass and dive into the corner for his second score despite the 16-stone attentions of T Rhys Thomas.
After another wayward conversion attempt from Jackson, persistent pressing from the Dragons in midfield earned O’Brien a second penalty which reduced the gap to 10 points. With two more tries and a bonus point foremost in their thoughts, Ulster pressed on as the clock approached the 70-minute mark, but poor control ball in hand from Andrew, recent entrant Ian Humphreys and Marshall in the space of three minutes put paid to as many promising moves.
A well-directed penalty to touch from Humphreys on 72 minutes came to naught as the Dragons pinched possession in the post-lineout maul, but better organisation by Ulster a minute later from the same position got Reidy to within a metre of a debut try, only to be outmuscled by Aled Brew as he homed in on the whitewash.
Ulster closed out the game deep in the visitors’ ‘22’, battling to give the game a scoreline which fairly reflected the dominance they had enjoyed – and their persistence paid off in the 81st minute, with replacement prop Fitzpatrick seizing Black’s short pass five metres from the line to power over the third try.
Humphreys converted with the last kick of the match to cement a 17-point victory which reinstates Ulster to third place in the PRO12 standings, as domestic rugby now takes a three-week break for the autumn internationals. Next up for Ulster is more Welsh opposition in the shape of the Ospreys, once again at Kingspan Stadium on Friday 21st November.
Full-Time Score Ulster 23 Newport Gwent Dragons 6
Ulster (15 – 9) S Olding; L Ludik, D Cave, S McCloskey, P Nelson; P Jackson, P Marshall (1 – 8) C Black, R Herring, W Herbst, L Stevenson, F van der Merwe, C Ross, S Reidy, R Wilson (c)
Replacements (16 – 23) J Andrew, A Warwick, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, R Diack, M Heaney, I Humphreys, R Andrew
Newport Gwent Dragons (15 – 9) J Tovey; A Hewitt, M Pewtner, R Williams, A Brew; A O’Brien, R Rees (1 – 8) B Stankovich, T R Thomas, D Way, J Thomas, R Landman (c), L Evans, J Benjamin, A Powell
Replacements (16 -23) E Dee, O A Evans, L Fairbrother, S Andrews, O Griffiths, J Evans, B Nightingale, G R Jones