ULSTER 29 SCARLETS 5

Ulster cruised to an emphatic five-try defeat of Scarlets tonight at the Kingspan Stadium, killing off their opponents within half an hour to reduce the gap behind Guinness Pro14 Conference A leaders Leinster to four points. Maintaining the fine run of form that earned them back-to-back wins in the first two rounds of the Heineken Champions Cup, Dan McFarland’s side blew away the visitors – sitting at second in Conference B before kick-off – with first-half tries from Matt Faddes, John Cooney, Matthew Rea and Robert Baloucoune, before Faddes added a second right at the death. In his first appearance of the season Baloucoune was sensational in both attack and defence, and with Louis Ludik also celebrating his 100^th cap for his adoptive province, there was plenty for the Kingspan faithful to cheer about. Six changes to the starting line-up – some tactical, others enforced – brought Baloucoune in for his first outing of the campaign, while Bill Johnston started at out-half, Faddes came in at centre, and Craig Gilroy also returned to the first XV. With Ludik shifting from last week’s berth on the wing to the full-back slot tonight, Stuart McCloskey and Cooney completed the backline at centre and scrum-half respectively. An unchanged front row of Eric Sullivan, Rob Herring and Marty Moore lined up ahead of Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell – a replacement last week against Clermont – while Rea was the only new addition to the back row, coming in at blindside flanker with Sean Reidy at openside and Marcell Coetzee at Number Eight. Ulster showed that they meant business straight from the off, with McCloskey, Coetzee and Treadwell all bludgeoning through tackles in the opening moments before a Reidy steal at a Scarlets scrum set the gears in motion inside the visitors’ ‘22’. Baloucoune heralded his return with a pacy break down the right, and when the ball was moved infield to McCloskey, the centre showed a deft touch with his left boot, kicking into the path of the onrushing Faddes who touched down just within the outer limits of play. Cooney’s conversion missed, but the scrum-half had little time to wait before getting his name on the scoresheet, landing his third try in as many games on eight minutes after more good work from Baloucoune – and showing great strength to fend off the final tackler just long enough to touch down right in the corner. This time the conversion was true, and with Ulster now threatening to put the game to bed as a contest before the end of the first quarter, try number three came via route one – an O’Connor lineout take, powerful rolling maul and touchdown from Rea. Conversion dispatched once again, Ulster soaked up five minutes’ worth of fairly benign Scarlets pressure before Faddes was touching down again – only for play to be brought back for an Ulster penalty as the centre’s foot had strayed into touch in the build-up. Ulster again mauled towards the line, and although stern Scarlets defence resisted the initial onslaught, luck proved to be on the hosts’ side when McCloskey’s looped – and somewhat risky – pass just eluded Steff Evans and fell for Baloucoune, whose athletic leap over the line secured the bonus point. Ten minutes in the sinbin for Uzair Cassiem did little to help the Scarlets’ cause, but although Gilroy looked to have added the fifth try just before the break, a forward pass from Ludik in the build-up ensured the visitors ran off at half-time with no further concessions. Half-Time Score Ulster 24 Scarlets 0 After a good ten minutes of plodding possession from Scarlets, McFarland mixed things up by replacing Coetzee, Herring and Cooney with Nick Timoney, Adam McBurney and David Shanahan – the latter thereby earning his 50^th cap for the province. The changes did little to increase the pace of the second period, which remained sluggish until the clock passed the hour mark, when another protracted spell of Scarlets pressure eventually broke down without posing the scoreboard any threat. Back in possession, Ulster injected a touch more vigour going forward, but once their latest centurion had exited to a stirring ovation, replaced by Angus Kernohan, Scarlets began to establish a late foothold in the game. With Gilroy sinbinned on 70 minutes for a high tackle on Ryan Lamb, Scarlets should have broken their duck wide on the right, only for Corey Baldwin to knock on metres from the line. They came again, however, with Jac Morgan adjudged to have grounded his 75^th-minute try just before Shanahan bundled him into touch. There was still time, however, for Faddes to add his second of the night in the left hand corner, seeing Ulster off 24 points to the good – a margin which their performance, in the first half certainly, had fully deserved. European rugby returns to the Kingspan next weekend, with Harlequins the visitors on Saturday 7 December in Round Three of the Heineken Champions Cup. Full-Time Score Ulster 29 Scarlets 5 Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Craig Gilroy, Matt Faddes, Stuart McCloskey, Robert Baloucoune; Bill Johnston, John Cooney (1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring (c), Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Marcell Coetzee Replacements (16- 23) Adam McBurney, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, David O’Connor, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Angus Curtis, Angus Kernohan Scarlets (15 – 9) Steff Evans; Corey Baldwin. Steff Hughes, Paul Asquith, Morgan Williams; Dan Jones, Kieran Hardy (1 – 8) Phil Price, Ryan Elias, Samson Lee, Lewis Rawlins, Sam Louis, Uzair Cassiem, Josh Macleod, Blade Thomson Replacements (16 – 23) Marc Jones, Dylan Evans, Werner Kruger, Steve Cummins, Jac Morgan, Jonathan Evans, Ryan Lamb, Ryan Conbeer