A late John Andrew try edged Ulster over the line at the expense of incumbent champions the Scarlets tonight at an emotional Kingspan Stadium, extending the province's 100% start to the 2017-18 Guinness Pro14 campaign.
The encounter fell five years to the day of the tragic passing of Nevin Spence, and in a fitting tribute to the sorely-missed Ballynahinch man, the current Ulster squad put in a performance of courage, drive, determination and true grit – qualities which Nevin himself embodied in his all-too-short career in white and red.
Scrum-half John Cooney continued on his impressive start in Ulster colours with 12 points from the tee, topped up by second-half tries from Jacob Stockdale and Andrew, and an equally important penalty from Christian Lealiifano.
The match-up was, on paper as on the field, Ulster’s sternest test of the season so far, with the Scarlets arriving in Belfast with a 100% win record of their own – and three British and Irish Lions in their ranks in the shape of hooker Ken Owens, full-back Halfpenny and centre Jonathan Davies – voted the tourists’ player of the tournament in New Zealand this summer, but named among the replacements tonight.
While Ulster’s own Lions triumvirate of Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Jared Payne was not included in the matchday squad, Luke Marshall returned at centre for his first start of the campaign. Fellow Ireland international Chris Henry came back to captain the side from flanker, with Kyle McCall and Alan O’Connor slotting in at prop and lock respectively, and Matthew Rea a late replacement for Jean Deysel, who suffered a minor eye trauma in training on Thursday.
After an impeccably-respected minute’s silence in honour of Nevin, his father Noel and his brother Graham, who also lost their lives that day, the action got underway and Halfpenny soon opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty.
Despite their early points, though, the Scarlets failed to properly find their groove, and with Christian Lealiifano placing accurate percentage kicks to touch deep in their ‘22’, the Ulster pressure paid off on 18 minutes with a pinpoint Cooney penalty from 40 metres restoring parity.
A fantastic aerial take from Stockdale on half-way then cemented Ulster’s foothold in the match, and while the Scarlets mauled hard to withstand the first sustained drive towards their line, infringement at the second push gave Cooney a 22-metre penalty to make it 6 – 3.
With the Scarlets now beginning to feel the stretch and their penalty count rising, Cooney added a third from distance on 33 minutes, and as they closed out the half on the front foot Les Kiss’s men may have felt somewhat aggrieved to run off only six points to the good at the break.
Half-Time Score Ulster 9 Scarlets 3
Strong running from Stuart McCloskey got Ulster moving in the second half, and a late tackle on Lealiifano won them yet more possession in Scarlets territory, from where Cooney added his fourth penalty of the encounter on 51 minutes.
A knock for Louis Ludik just prior to Cooney’s kick brought Tommy Bowe into play with Stockdale dropping to full-back, but Ulster continued to go about their business in the same efficient manner until the 60-minute mark, when a second Halfpenny penalty and a breakaway Johnny McNicholl try, duly converted by the full-back, suddenly swung the pendulum in the visitors’ favour.
The Ulster response was swift and masterful. McCloskey and Sean Reidy combined down the left, both men brushing tackles aside and the Number Eight picking the killer pass to the onrushing Stockdale for the winger’s first try of the campaign.
Jubilation within the Kingspan Stadium was short-lived, however, as the Scarlets seized on a sloppy Ulster clearance to run in their second try, grounded by that man Davies, recently entered from the bench.
Ulster heads refused to drop, however, and with Cooney making way for Paul Marshall with 10 minutes to go, Lealiifano stepped up to level affairs courtesy of a well-struck penalty and give his side the platform from which to build for the win.
The final five minutes were electric. When the match-winning chance came McCloskey was again instrumental as he forced his way up the left flank, winning the valuable yards to set up a maul on the ‘22’ from where Luke Marshall, improvising at scrum-half, fished out the ball and showed great vision to spray it long to replacement hooker Andrew, afforded the freedom of the Kingspan on the right for a simple touchdown.
Against the toughest of opponents the win was well-earned, and Ulster have the chance to build on the victory against another Welsh opponent – the Dragons – next Friday once again at the Kingspan Stadium.
Full-Time Score Ulster 27 Scarlets 20
Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Kyle McCall, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Matthew Rea, Chris Henry (c), Sean Reidy
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Rodney Ah You, Robbie Diack, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Tommy Bowe
Scarlets (15 – 9) Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, Hadleigh Parkes, Scott Williams, Steff Evans; Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies
(1 – 8) Rob Evans, Ken Owens (c), Samson Lee, Jake Ball, Tadhg Beirne, Aaron Shingler, Will Boyde, John Barclay
Replacements (16 – 23) Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, David Bulbring, Josh MacLeod, Jonathan Evans, Rhys Jones, Jonathan Davies
The encounter fell five years to the day of the tragic passing of Nevin Spence, and in a fitting tribute to the sorely-missed Ballynahinch man, the current Ulster squad put in a performance of courage, drive, determination and true grit – qualities which Nevin himself embodied in his all-too-short career in white and red.
Scrum-half John Cooney continued on his impressive start in Ulster colours with 12 points from the tee, topped up by second-half tries from Jacob Stockdale and Andrew, and an equally important penalty from Christian Lealiifano.
The match-up was, on paper as on the field, Ulster’s sternest test of the season so far, with the Scarlets arriving in Belfast with a 100% win record of their own – and three British and Irish Lions in their ranks in the shape of hooker Ken Owens, full-back Halfpenny and centre Jonathan Davies – voted the tourists’ player of the tournament in New Zealand this summer, but named among the replacements tonight.
While Ulster’s own Lions triumvirate of Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Jared Payne was not included in the matchday squad, Luke Marshall returned at centre for his first start of the campaign. Fellow Ireland international Chris Henry came back to captain the side from flanker, with Kyle McCall and Alan O’Connor slotting in at prop and lock respectively, and Matthew Rea a late replacement for Jean Deysel, who suffered a minor eye trauma in training on Thursday.
After an impeccably-respected minute’s silence in honour of Nevin, his father Noel and his brother Graham, who also lost their lives that day, the action got underway and Halfpenny soon opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty.
Despite their early points, though, the Scarlets failed to properly find their groove, and with Christian Lealiifano placing accurate percentage kicks to touch deep in their ‘22’, the Ulster pressure paid off on 18 minutes with a pinpoint Cooney penalty from 40 metres restoring parity.
A fantastic aerial take from Stockdale on half-way then cemented Ulster’s foothold in the match, and while the Scarlets mauled hard to withstand the first sustained drive towards their line, infringement at the second push gave Cooney a 22-metre penalty to make it 6 – 3.
With the Scarlets now beginning to feel the stretch and their penalty count rising, Cooney added a third from distance on 33 minutes, and as they closed out the half on the front foot Les Kiss’s men may have felt somewhat aggrieved to run off only six points to the good at the break.
Half-Time Score Ulster 9 Scarlets 3
Strong running from Stuart McCloskey got Ulster moving in the second half, and a late tackle on Lealiifano won them yet more possession in Scarlets territory, from where Cooney added his fourth penalty of the encounter on 51 minutes.
A knock for Louis Ludik just prior to Cooney’s kick brought Tommy Bowe into play with Stockdale dropping to full-back, but Ulster continued to go about their business in the same efficient manner until the 60-minute mark, when a second Halfpenny penalty and a breakaway Johnny McNicholl try, duly converted by the full-back, suddenly swung the pendulum in the visitors’ favour.
The Ulster response was swift and masterful. McCloskey and Sean Reidy combined down the left, both men brushing tackles aside and the Number Eight picking the killer pass to the onrushing Stockdale for the winger’s first try of the campaign.
Jubilation within the Kingspan Stadium was short-lived, however, as the Scarlets seized on a sloppy Ulster clearance to run in their second try, grounded by that man Davies, recently entered from the bench.
Ulster heads refused to drop, however, and with Cooney making way for Paul Marshall with 10 minutes to go, Lealiifano stepped up to level affairs courtesy of a well-struck penalty and give his side the platform from which to build for the win.
The final five minutes were electric. When the match-winning chance came McCloskey was again instrumental as he forced his way up the left flank, winning the valuable yards to set up a maul on the ‘22’ from where Luke Marshall, improvising at scrum-half, fished out the ball and showed great vision to spray it long to replacement hooker Andrew, afforded the freedom of the Kingspan on the right for a simple touchdown.
Against the toughest of opponents the win was well-earned, and Ulster have the chance to build on the victory against another Welsh opponent – the Dragons – next Friday once again at the Kingspan Stadium.
Full-Time Score Ulster 27 Scarlets 20
Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Christian Lealiifano, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Kyle McCall, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Matthew Rea, Chris Henry (c), Sean Reidy
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Rodney Ah You, Robbie Diack, Clive Ross, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Tommy Bowe
Scarlets (15 – 9) Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, Hadleigh Parkes, Scott Williams, Steff Evans; Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies
(1 – 8) Rob Evans, Ken Owens (c), Samson Lee, Jake Ball, Tadhg Beirne, Aaron Shingler, Will Boyde, John Barclay
Replacements (16 – 23) Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, David Bulbring, Josh MacLeod, Jonathan Evans, Rhys Jones, Jonathan Davies