ULSTER 33 ISUZU SOUTHERN KINGS 19

Ulster outscored the Isuzu Southern Kings by five tries to three this evening at the Kingspan Stadium, strengthening their claim on a Guinness Pro14 play-off place with the bonus point victory seeing them bypass Benetton Rugby into second place in the Conference B table. Tries from Stuart McCloskey, man-of-the-match Rob Lyttle, Marcell Coetzee, Robert Baloucoune and John Andrew secured the five points for Dan McFarland’s side, and although the Kings were as threatening as ever going forward, Ulster never looked in danger of missing out on their second consecutive try-bonus. With three tough matches in prospect away to Glasgow and Edinburgh and then home to Leinster, Ulster sit on 54 points with Benetton third on 50, Edinburgh fourth on 47, and the Scarlets also still in contention on 45. The province welcomed back Number Eight Coetzee for his first appearance since January following a hamstring injury sustained in the momentous Heineken Cup victory over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Four more changes from the starting XV that picked up the bonus-point win at the Dragons three weeks ago brought in Andy Warwick at loosehead, Ian Nagle at lock, Matthew Rea at flanker and David Shanahan, the sole backline change, at scrum-half. Hooker Rob Herring, tighthead Marty Moore, lock and captain Alan O’Connor, and flanker Nick Timoney completed the pack, with Louis Ludik at full-back, Baloucoune and Lyttle on the wings, Darren Cave and McCloskey in the centre, and Billy Burns at out-half. With competition for a top three place in Conference B hotting up after last night’s bonus-point win for Edinburgh against Leinster, Ulster had their foot on the gas straight from the first whistle, with Herring unlucky to knock on just before the ‘22’ after fine work from McCloskey down the left flank. Then Ludik and Coetzee made good ground against their compatriots in Ulster’s very next attack, which culminated in McCloskey riding three challenges to swivel his way over in the corner on eight minutes. Unfortunately it was to prove Ludik’s last contribution to the encounter, as he limped off after a heavy blow to the leg sustained in the build-up to the score, and was replaced by Michael Lowry as Burns buried the conversion. After a protracted pause for treatment to Burns, who was, thankfully, able to continue, Ulster picked up where they had left off, with Lyttle touching down on 15 minutes after Lowry had flummoxed the Kings defence with an exquisite change of direction in full flight. Burns was on target once more with the conversion, before the Kings – who, with five try-bonus points to their name already this term, have already proven their offensive ability time and again – suddenly forced their way back into contention with two quick tries. The first, a well-worked effort from prolific winger Yaw Penxe on 21 minutes, was followed five minutes later by a rather more fortuitous score from full-back Ulrich Beyers, who first appeared to have knocked on when collecting the final pass, only for the TMO replays to show that the ball had in fact bounced forward off the his chest and thigh but not his hands. Bader Pretorious’s conversion brought his side to within two points for a good 10 minutes until Coetzee marked his return to the side with a muscular drive to the line after a strong Ulster rolling maul, with Burns adding his third conversion to bring the lead back up to nine at the break. Half-Time Score Ulster 21 Isuzu Southern Kings 12 With John Cooney an early second-half entrant for Shanahan – plus Tom O’Toole and Angus Kernohan replacing the injured Moore and Cave respectively – Ulster soon forced their way to the bonus point, Baloucoune applying the finishing touch after another well-executed rolling maul and fast hands across the breadth of the pitch from Cooney, Burns and Lyttle. Cooney took over conversion duty with the same accuracy as Burns had shown in the first half, and after a 15-minute lull where the Kings enjoyed possession but proved unable to use it to any real effect, hooker Michael Willemse eventually sneaked through a gap in the Ulster rearguard on 65 minutes after sustained mauling close to the line. Any hope the Kings may have held of staging a dramatic comeback evaporated, however, on 67 minutes, with a red and a yellow card respectively for centre Tertius Kruger and replacement hooker Alandre van Rooyen – Kruger for a dangerous shoulder to the jaw of Baloucoune in a late, no-arms tackle, and van Rooyen for a swinging arm which made contact with the head of Cooney in an attempted tackle, adjudged less serious by referee Lloyd Linton as the scrum-half was on his way to ground as the challenge was made. Both Ulstermen were able to play on unscathed, and the hosts logically secured their fifth try with four minutes to go thanks to strong mauling from Andrew, not long on the field in place of Herring. Ulster’s attention now turns temporarily to the Heineken European Champions Cup and next Saturday’s huge interprovincial quarter final away to Leinster, before the Guinness Pro14 run-in resumes at Glasgow. Full-Time Score Ulster 33 Isuzu Southern Kings 19 Ulster Rugby (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Robert Baloucoune, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Rob Lyttle; Billy Burns, Dave Shanahan (1 – 8) Andy Warwick, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (c), Ian Nagle, Matty Rea, Nick Timoney, Marcell Coetzee Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Wiehahn Herbst, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Clive Ross, John Cooney, Michael Lowry, Angus Kernohan. Isuzu Southern Kings (15 – 9) Ulrich Beyers; Yaw Penxe, Meli Rokoua, Tertius Kruger, Bjorn Basson; Bader Pretorius, Stefan Ungerer (1 – 8) Alulutho Tshakweni, Michael Willemse, De-Jay Terblanche, Andries Van Schalkwyk, John-Charles Astle (c), Henry Brown, Martinus Burger, Ruaan Lerm Replacements (16 – 23) Alandre Van Rooyen, Schalk Ferreira, Lupumlo Mguca, Stephan Greeff, Andisa Ntsila, Rudi Van Rooyen, Masixole Banda, Harlon Klaasen