Ulster 38 - 16 Edinburgh: Edinburgh overrun by rampant Ulster

EDINBURGH slumped to a sixth consecutive defeat in the RaboDirect Pro 12 league, equalling their worst record in the competition. Michael Bradley’s side were outscored at Ravenhill by six tries to two by a rampant Ulster who repeated their bonus point success of earlier in the season at Murrayfield.

On a perfect night for running rugby, Edinburgh made a bright start when Ulster winger Stefan Terblanche sliced a clearance into touch from the kick-off. From the resulting lineout, centre John Houston carried the ball deep into the Ulster 22 and Edinburgh worked the ball through a number of phases. Fly-half Phil Godman put in a probing kick but the ball beat Sep Visser into touch.

Edinburgh were rewarded for their early endeavour with a try from Sep Visser on four minutes. Centre Matt Scoot tidied up a scrappy ball from a scrum to break the gain line on the left wing, the ball was quickly recycled and Tim Visser took it into contact. Tom Brown got the ball and spun it wide for Sep Visser to finish in the corner, but Godman was unable to convert.

Ulster hit back six minutes later with a length of the field try finished off by scrum-half Paul Marshall.

Winger Craig Gilroy broke out of his own 22 at pace, fed fly-half Ruan Pienaar and the South African threw a looping pass to Adam D’Arcy. The Australian full-back went past two defenders before cutting inside and offloading to Pienaar who gave his half-back partner Marshall an easy run in under the posts, with Pienaar converting.

Ulster added their second try five minutes later from Terblanche. The home side kicked a penalty to touch five metres from the touch line, the forwards executed a catch and drive and rumbled towards the Edinburgh line, working it through the phases. World Cup-winning prop John Afoa then took it on and fed D’Arcy who opened up space before the ball was moved quickly to the wing for Terblanche to finish in the corner, with Pienaar again converting.

Edinburgh nearly scored a second try when Godman spotted Tim Visser had a one-on-one with Gilroy and put in a cross-field kick, but neither winger could reach it. Brown gathered the ball but couldn’t get over the line.

Ulster’s third try came on 32 minutes and it was another that started in their own 22 when Marshall broke from the base of a scrum. Ulster moved the ball to the winger and then back inside at speed. Pienaar cut through before producing a simple pass inside to put D’Arcy under the posts. Pienaar added the conversion before Ulster wasted a couple of opportunities to wrap up their bonus point by half-time.

Ulster were then punished for not releasing on the ground and, with the last kick of the first half, Godman landed the resulting penalty to cut Ulster’s lead at the interval to 21-8.

Godman was on target with his second penalty two minutes after the restart when Ulster captain Paddy Wallace was punished for not rolling away from the tackle. But Ulster scored their bonus point try on 50 minutes.

After some dazzling back play, it was forward power that earned the all-important score. Ulster earned a scrum five metres from the line, Afoa got the hit and Edinburgh collapsed. From the reset, Ulster put in another drive and again it was stopped illegally, prompting a warning from referee Nigel Owens to the visitors.

From the third scrum Afoa again put the Edinburgh scrum under pressure and again it went down, leaving the Welsh referee to award a penalty try which Pienaar converted.

Sep Visser nearly squeezed over for his second try when he came off his wing and side-stepped Ulster centre Ian Whitten, but D’Arcy made a try-saving tackle. Brown gathered the loose ball but knocked on, allowing the home side to clear.

Replacement winger Chris Cochrane scored Ulster’s fifth on 62 minutes after Pienaar caught the visiting defence napping with a quick tap penalty. The ball was spun wide and Cochrane used his searing pace to go over.

Edinburgh continued to battle and got their second try on 73 minutes from Tim Visser, who had the power and pace to squeeze over in the corner, but Godman failed with the conversion from a tight angle.

Ulster sealed the victory with a sixth try in the final minute when replacement fly-half Ian Humphreys sprinted in from long range.

Scorers: Ulster – Tries: P Marshall, Terblanche, D’Arcy, penalty try, Cochrane, Humphreys. Cons: Pienaar 4. Edinburgh – Tries: S Visser, T Visser. Pens: Godman 2.

Ulster: N D’Arcy; C Gilroy, I Whitten, P Wallace (capt), S Terblanche; R Pienaar, P Marshall; P McAllister, A Kyriacou, J Afoa, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, P Wannenburg, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: N Brady for Kyriacou 54 mins, C Black for McAllister 51, A Macklin for Afoa 62, N McComb for McComish 46, M McComish for Wannenburg 12, I Humphreys for Marshall 52, L Marshal for Whitten 69, C Cochrane for D’Arcy 60.

Edinburgh: T Brown; S Visser, M Scott, J Houston, T Visser; P Godman, C Leck; K Traynor, A Kelly, U Gamboa, G Gilchrist, S Cox, S McInally, R Grant (capt), N Talei. Replacements: A Walker for Kelly 52 mins, R Hislop for Traynor 60, J Gilding for Gamboa 41, R McAlpine for Gilchrist 41, H Watson for McInally 17, A Black for Leck 60, H Leonard for Houston 60, C Paterson for Brown 69.