URC Rd 2: Lions 35 Ulster 22
A strong second-half showing from Ulster allowed them to leave Johannesburg with a try bonus point from their first loss of the campaign after looking dead and buried when 15-0 down and then 30-10 behind at different stages of the game against the Lions.
Though they coughed up five tries, Richie Murphy’s side still took four of their own through John Cooney, Aidan Morgan, Werner Kok and Corrie Barrett, though they could only convert one from Nathan Doak after Cooney had missed two.
In challenging playing conditions, a combination of heat and Johannesburg’s thin air, it was no great surprise that the visitors struggled from the off. And though they struggled against the Lions’ maul and pace, they found a way to claw their way back into the contest.
Nine minutes were on the clock when the Lions struck from distance off a lineout maul. PJ Botha and Francke Horn combined, and winger Rabz Maxwane was away down the tramline for a soft enough try.
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Kade Wolhuter missed the extras but then slotted a penalty on 15 minutes which put the Lions eight points up without reply.
Even when Ulster got some front-foot off Ethan McIlroy, they still managed to cough up possession which led to Quan Horn’s huge 50-22 to within five metres of the visitors’ line.
Botha was mauled over the line from the subsequent lineout, though his score was ruled out due to an offside call from referee Sam Grove-White.
The remainder of the opening half was mostly about the Lions surging forward and Ulster somehow finding ways of keeping their line intact.
But it couldn’t continue and three minutes after the half-hour, the Lions put a ball to the corner and this time mauled over without incident.
Skipper Francke Horn got the ball down and Wolhuter added the conversion to put the hosts 15-0 ahead.
Ulster now had to find some way of staying in the game and did so with the clock reading red for the end of the opening half.
After an energy-sapping attack of multiple phases they secured a penalty, fired the ball to the corner and following strong carries from Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney, Cooney touched the ball down from short range.
Though he was unable to convert, Ulster were at least on the board as the sides broke for half-time with the Lions leading 15-5.
Ulster further cut the margin shortly after the new half had begun when Morgan bagged a great team score which again went unconverted.
The Lions hit back quickly when Franco Marais was mauled over and had their bonus point on 49 minutes after Quan Horn had knifed through some weak Ulster defending with Henco van Wyk the beneficiary with a run-in under the posts which Wolhuter converted.
The scoreline then became 30-10 when Wolhuter kicked a 56th-minute penalty. But to Ulster’s credit, with their bench making an impact for the second week running, they found a way over the line two more times.
Kok got on the end of a kick through from Doak for his first Ulster score on the hour and with time running out Barrett burrowed over to earn the province what had seemed an unlikely try bonus point.
This was converted by Doak and had Ulster hung on two points would have been theirs. However, the Lions ended such notions with Wolhuter’s 79th-minute try.
LIONS: Q Horn; R Maxwane, E Cronje, R Jonker, T Mafura; K Wolhuter, S Nohamba; M Naude, PJ Botha, A Ntlabakanye; R Nothnagel, D Landsberg; J Cairns, R Venter, F Horn (capt).
Replacements: H van Wyk for Mafura (40 mins); F Marais for Botha, J Schoeman for Naude (both 44); S Qoma for Venter (55); R Schoeman for Nothnagel, N Steyn for Nohamba (both 61); C van Vuuren for Ntlabakanye (65); R du Plessis for Cairns (69).
ULSTER: E McIlroy; W Kok, S Moore, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; A Morgan, J Cooney; A Warwick, J Andrew, T O’Toole; K Treadwell, A O’Connor (capt); Matty Rea, S Reffell, N Timoney.
Replacements: J McCormick for Andrew, E O’Sullivan for Warwick, C Barrett for O’Toole, I Henderson for Treadwell, D McCann for Rea (all 51 mins); N Doak for Cooney (55); J McNabney for O’Connor (61); M Lowry for McIlroy (65).
Referee: S Grove-White (SRU).
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