Exiles powerless against Test stars

LONDON Scottish hopes of qualification were dashed on Friday after a six-try defeat to Ulster.

The Exiles held a deserved 14-12 lead at half time after Danny Kenny and Dan Koroi crossed but Ulster’s experience, boosted by having three Ireland Test players in their lineup, showed and four second-half tries proved too much to overcome.

Kenny put Scottish ahead five minutes into the game but Ulster hit back with two tries. First it was fly-half Johnny McPhillips who dotted down in the corner before a rolling maul propelled Lorcan Dow over the line.

McPhillips converted and the hosts had a 12-7 lead but it was the Exiles who went into the break two points ahead as Koroi barged over.

Ulster came flying out of the blocks in the second half and would cross the line on four occasions as they took the game away from the Exiles.

They regained the lead after 46 minutes following another rolling maul which saw Andrew cross and they took control of the game on the hour with wing Craig Gilroy carving through the defence to set up fellow Test star Darren Cave with two fine tries.

To their credit Scottish refused to lie down and they reduced the deficit to ten when Joe Atkinson raced under the posts.

But Ulster had one last try in them and David Busby secured the win collecting a cross-field kick with ten minutes to go.