[tag=image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... _badge.png[/tag][tag=content]Ulster produced a scintillating 38-8 try bonus point win over the Newport-Gwent Dragons to maintain the pressure on Leinster and Munster at the top of the Pro12.
The hosts were ruthless and dominated all aspects of the game in comparison to their opponents who looked a shadow of the team that downed the Glasgow Warriors only five days earlier.
The home fans would have been delighted to see winger Tommy Bowe return from his four-month absence and bag two tries in his forty-minute stint as Ulster bagged the bonus point after just thirty-two minutes.
Steffan Jones’ kick-off epitomised how the game would unfold as he didn’t manage to get it the required ten metres, and less than a minute later Ruan Pienaar had given the Irish province an early lead through a well struck long range penalty.
The home side were banishing all the demons of the previous week’s poor performance in Treviso and continued to dominate with Pienaar crossing for the opening try of the game after Darren Cave’s initial break.
However there will be cause for concern for both Ulster and Ireland as inside centre Luke Marshall had to be helped off the field with concussion – he was replaced by debutant Stuart McCloskey.
Then came Bowe’s quick double salvo as first he cut a great line off a line-out to cross unopposed in the corner in the twenty-third minute, then two minutes later he received a Cave offload and shrugged off two tackles to dot down for his second.
The visitors were completely on the back foot and Ulster nearly had their fourth try as immediately from the restart they went on the attack, only for Cave’s grubber kick through to be taken back over the line by the Dragons for a 5 metre scrum.
They didn’t have too long to wait for the bonus point try though as the home pack decimated the visitors’ and once Owen A Evans was sin-binned, referee Lloyd Linton had no hesitation in going under the posts for a penalty try making it 31-0 to Ulster.
Rhys Jones got the Dragons on the scoresheet with his first successful attempt at goal, but the hosts went in at half-time with an unassailable 31-3 lead.
It took just five minutes of the second half for Ulster to extend that lead by a further seven points as the impressive Rory Scholes made a break in the midfield and was held just short only for the ball to be flung wide and openside flanker Sean Doyle crossed in the corner.
Despite their thirty-five point advantage, Ulster continued to press for more points and they were close to another try only for Scholes to be knocked into touch and then David McIlwaine to spill what seemed to be a rather straightforward catch on the wing.
Due to injuries to Scholes and Paddy Jackson required to be substituted Ulster’s backline was significantly reshuffled with Sean Doyle and Mike McComish going onto the vacant wing berths and as a result Ulster were less threatening in the last twenty minutes.
Instead it was the Dragons who had the last laugh as Ross Wardle held off the challenges of McIlwaine and Doyle to score the visitors’ solitary try which was unconverted.
Ulster kept pressing in an attempt to break the forty-point mark, however their makeshift backline failed to click and the closest they came to a final flourish was a Jared Payne break which was stopped short by the resilient second half Dragons defence.
In the end it was a straightforward victory for the Ulstermen and although they stay third in the table it closes the gap between them and the top two and will be a large confidence booster after a few sub-standard performances over the last few weeks.
The scorers
For Ulster
Tries: Pienaar, Bowe (2), Penalty Try, Doyle
Cons: Jackson (5)
Pen: Pienaar
For Dragons
Try: Wardle
Pen: R Jones
ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Jared Payne, Tommy Bowe (David McIlwaine 40), Darren Cave, Luke Marshall (Stuart McCloskey 20), Rory Scholes (Paul Marshall 53), Paddy Jackson (Mike McComish 62), Ruan Pienaar (Lewis Stevenson 71); (1-8) Callum Black (Tom Court 61), Rob Herring (Niall Annett 72), Ricky Lutton (Adam Macklin 67), Johann Muller, Iain Henderson, Robbie Diack, Sean Doyle, Roger Wilson.
NEWPORT-GWENT DRAGONS
(15-9) Rhys Jones, Matthew Pewtner, Pat Leach, Ashley Smith (Jack Dixon 62), Ross Wardle, Steffan Jones (Lewis Robling 58), Richie Rees (Wayne Evans 47); (1-8) Owen A Evans (Nathan Williams 63), T Rhys Thomas (Hugh Gustafson 58), Bruce Douglas (Duncan Bell 54), Matthew Screech (Rob Sidoli 58), Cory Hill, Jevon Groves (Nathan Williams 32, Ieuan Jones 62), Nic Cudd, Lewis Evans (Jevon Groves 73).
Yellow Card: Owen A Evans (32)
Man of the Match: Darren Cave (Ulster)
Referee: Lloyd Linton (SRU)
Attendance: 12,960[/tag]
Match Report: Ulster Rugby 38-8 Newport-Gwent Dragons
Moderator: Moderators
