Gutsy effort is not enough as depleted Ulster fail to stem Scarlets tide

SCARLETS: J McNicholl (C Blommetjies 63); T Prydie, K Fonotia, P Asquith, I Nicholas (M Williams 71); D Jones, K Hardy (S Hidalgo-Clyne 62); P Price, M Jones (D Hughes 45), W Kruger (S Gardiner 69); S Cummins, D Bulbring; E Kennedy (D Davis 26), W Boyde, U Cassiem.

Subs not used: D Evans, L Rawlins. ULSTER: M Lowry; R Baloucoune, L Ludik, J Hume, H Speight (A Kernohan 76); B Burns (D Cave 64), D Shanahan (J Stewart 62); E O’Sullivan (A Warwick 49), A McBurney (J Andrew 62), M Moore (T O’Toole 54); A O’Connor, K Treadwell (I Nagle 49); M Coetzee, S Reidy, N Timoney (G Jones 62). Referee: Quinton Immelman

Man of the match: KFonotia

IF this was the first leg in a key trilogy against the Scarlets, Ulster will be hoping the next two fixtures see them not just turn the page but start a whole new book afresh.

In a game where they scored the first and last tries, there was little to cheer in between as Scarlets ran in four scores and enjoyed so much of the ball that at times it felt like an attack versus defence training drill.

Dan McFarland’s oft-repeated mantra has been that his side will fight for every inch, and there was a gutsy element to a showing in which they were asked to make well north of 200 tackles, but despite their doggedness, they never seemed likely to take anything from the contest either.

The five-to-zero match point split sees Scarlets leapfrog Ulster into second in the table, their bonus point coming at the culmination of 20 minutes after the turn where they wholly monopolised the ball.

In a game that saw both sides make wholesale changes thanks to a multitude of international call-ups, it was unsurprising that continuity appeared to be something of a rare commodity in the opening stages.

Ulster’s kicking game was poor, while Scarlets were giv- ing away too many penalties for Wayne Pivac’s liking.

It was first blood to Ulster, however, on the quarter-hour mark.

There didn’t look to be much space available to the visitors on the attack a few phases after a lineout, but Mike Lowry and fitagain Louis Ludik opened the door and Henry Speight powered up the sideline.

With Johnny McNicholl coming up and in on the Wallaby, there was space for Dave Shanahan to exploit.

The scrum-half, the author of some of those early poor kicks, has made a real habit this season of clever trailing runs and this was his fifth score in just eight games this season.

Dan Jones, who struck two penalties in the reverse fixture, reduced the lead with a penalty when Marcell Coetzee was pinged for not rolling away and, after 26 minutes, they took the lead when Werner Kruger went over from close range.

The same man almost created a score with a scarcely believable one-handed offload inside to scrum-half Kieran Hardy, but Nick Timoney bundled him into touch just in time with a try-saving tackle.

There was only one side who looked likely to add to the firsthalf scoring though, so it was somewhat of an inevitability when the home side went over the line soon after.

With penalty advantage off a maul that saw Marty Moore come round the wrong side, Scarlets pulled the ball back and centre Paul Asquith was worked over the line. Kieran Fonotia had prevented James Hume from making the tackle however, bringing play back for the original infringement.

This time it was repelled legally, but Scarlets kept things tight for phase after phase on the line, with a show and go from Hardy finally breaking Ulster’s resistance.

Ulster’s attempt at a quick response was scuppered by a Timoney knock on and, with Dan McFarland’s men now missing a few tackles after a concerted de-