Scores still came, though, with Carter surging through for his second ahead of replacement Marcus Rea doing the same and Cooney kicking his sixth conversion with five minutes remaining.
After losing Ian Madigan at the break, McCloskey also left after his 41st minute try and when Burns went, Michael Lowry was put in at 10 and Cooney ended up on the wing. The second half saw some disruption to Ulster’s momentum as they were forced to make some backline changes. John Andrew and Sam Carter had also crossed for Ulster in the opening 40 minutes on an evening when close-in surges to the line, as opposed to dazzling attacking, were in vogue even though the weather was benign. And though Ulster were also stripped of personnel this encounter clearly demonstrated just how their depth chart is in much ruder health than that of the Welsh region. The Ospreys, missing a host of established names and with Dan Lydiate pulling out before kick-off, brought little to the occasion. “We know and understand what a quality player he is, and he’ll bring a toughness, a hard edge and experience.”Īs for last Saturday’s game, Ulster had nailed down the result by half-time when Luke Marshall smashed over for his second try of the evening, and the bonus-point score, after just 33 minutes, John Cooney’s conversion putting the hosts 28-10 in front. “Look, these are very unfortunate circumstances for Worcester,” McFarland said of Ulster picking up Sutherland for the remainder of the season, “but it’s a benefit to us and Rory really wanted to come to Ulster, and he’s worked with a lot of us previously. McFarland also revealed that new signing Rory Sutherland will be on the flight. James Hume, who has been missing since returning home early from Ireland’s tour to New Zealand with a groin issue, should be with Ulster this week and his impending return looks timely should McCloskey have to withdraw. “We know the South African teams will really test us, and they seem to be able to play their first team week-in and week-out,” he added.
“And the South Africans starting so strong in the league tells us what we’re facing, the standard of the URC is getting stronger and stronger.
Ulster narrowly lost last season’s URC semi-final at the hands of the Stormers in Cape Town and were also beaten in their two matches there in the regulation season.
0 kommentar(er)
