Scarlets Blown Over at the fortress

The battlements look to be getting restored as Ulster produced a clinical performance to beat the Llanelli Scarlets 20-8 on a dreadful night at Ravenhill.

The scarlets kicked off with what seemed like a force ten gale blowing from the far corner of the Aquinas end and looked to set their stall out early forcing Ulster into a defensive lineout 5 metres from their line. Ulster, knew full well what was required and made the hard yards out of the ’22 before O’Connor made the relieving kick.

The organization of the Ulster forwards was a sight to behold after some of the performances this season and the Scarlets pack found it difficult to repel charge after charge around the fringes of ruck and maul which on occasion led to infringements by the opposition. Towards the end of the first half which saw Ulster dominating in attack and defence the Scarlets were awarded a penalty which Priestland converted. This setback seemed to add renewed spark into the Ulster play and after a period of pressure deep in the Scarlets’ 22 saw Boss dive over close to a ruck with O’Connor missing the conversion.
Ulster took a well deserved 5-3 lead at the break and with the wind behind them in the second half the crowd were expectant.

The second half saw the introduction of Alix Popham and Irish international Simon Easterby to add some steel to the Scarlets backrow that had been outmuscled by their Ulster counterparts. Ulster with no changes kicked off and tore straight into the Scarlets with Simon Easterby getting knocked back in his first collision. Niall O’Connor then made up for his previous misses by landing a superb penalty from just inside the Scarlets’ half. The ensuing period saw bouts of possession for both teams but little inroads was made by either side though Alix Popham might have a couple of bruised ribs after a tremendous hit by Ferris. The scarlets then reclaimed the initiative with outhalf Priestland breaking an O’Connor tackle to go over which left the scores level after he missed the theoretically simple coversion.

Ulster however showed that their made of sterner stuff and after regaining possession moved into the Scarlets half through a series of powerful charges. After being held up over the line Boss fed Justin Fitzpatrick who was tackled short and looked like he could have been isolated until a majestic pop of the ground found the ever-present McCullough who dived over the line. This effectively killed of any chance of a Scarlets fightback and Neil Best who came on for the industrious Dawson drove over the line some 4 minutes into injury time to put the icing on the cake.

It was a pleasing result for all especially those who were still a little tentative of where Ulster were standing after a one-sided thumping of a 14 man Dragons outfit. Matt Williams:

In those conditions we had to tough it out and the lads played some courageous rugby,"

"They had to defend and fight every inch of the way. We knew it was going to be a scrap out there.

"We played so differently from the last game and that was particularly pleasing for me."

Ulster: Bartholomeusz, McCrea, Steinmetz, P. Wallace, Danielli, O'Connor, Boss, Young, R. Best, Court, Harrison, Caldwell, McCullough, Dawson, Ferris.
Replacements: Brady, J. Fitzpatrick, del Fava, N. Best, Marshall, Cave, Cunningham.

Scarlets: Stoddart, James, King, G. Evans, Brew, Priestlend, Peel, I. Thomas, Schwalger, Manu, D. Jones, Reed, Bater, G. Thomas, N. Thomas.
Replacements: John, Owen, Day, Easterby, Popham, Cattle, C. Thomas.