How they rated

PETER NELSON: Pulled off one vital tackle on Barbini and generally acquitted himself pretty well in a difficult game. 6 ROBERT BALOUCOUNE: This time he was mostly deployed defensively and after taking a nasty hit he was gone. 5 JAMES HUME: Not an easy place for a first start, though stepped by Benvenuti he somehow got back to stop a certain try. 6

STUART McCLOSKEY: Will be annoyed at having his try ruled out, but also stopped one for Benetton and was very busy going forward. 7

HENRY SPEIGHT: Nothing seemed to work as he would have liked and there were just too many errors. 4

BILLY BURNS: He needed front-foot ball but ended up having to make 14 tackles which tells its own tale of this game. 6 DAVE SHANAHAN: One loose kick put Ulster under the pump but a late effort helped lift the siege. 6

ERIC O’SULLIVAN: The young prop was busy with the ball and though there was some discomfort at the scrums he managed fine. 5

ROB HERRING: The lineouts were dreadful again. The system or the thrower? Hard to know. Got try and worked his socks off. 5

MARTY MOORE: Another useful turnover was won and made some tackles too. Called ashore just as the Italians got within five. 5

ALAN O’CONNOR: The skipper could have been in trouble for his work at one lineout and was mostly seen putting in a high tackle count. 5

KIERAN TREADWELL: No leg-pumping bursts this time and had a quiet enough game while, like O’Connor, getting pretty busy in defence. 5

MARCELL COETZEE: Ulster’s top tackler and carrier, the South African’s game ended prematurely with what appeared to be a head knock. 7

SEAN REIDY: Got Ulster’s first try at a crucial time and though there was some good work this was a quieter effort than he would have liked. 6

NICK TIMONEY: Back in the side and one decent run off a scrum relieved a lot of pressure. Not enough front-foot work though. 5

SUBS:

ANGUS KERNOHAN: (Baloucoune 35) JOHN ANDREW: (Herring 62) 5 ANDY WARWICK: (O’Sullivan 62)

TOM O’TOOLE (Moore 62) 5

GREG JONES (Reidy 63) 6

CLIVE ROSS (Coetzee 74) 3

NOT USED: Jonny Stewart, Johnny McPhillips

5

5

Ratings by Michael Sadlier