Easy night for Ulster boosts play-off hopes

ULSTER 32 ZEBRE 0

ULSTER bounced back from two consecutive defeats to get their play-off ambitions back on track with a bonuspoint victory. The home side scored four tries with Nick Williams crossing twice before Peter Browne and Paul Marshall went over to keep them in fourth place. Paddy Jackson added 12 points with the boot, as Ulster had another three tries disallowed. Their first try came in the 10th minute with Williams dotting down, and he added a second after Stuart Olding was held up over the line, Jackson’s conversion making it 20-0. Just after the hour, Browne dived over, but Jackson missed the conversion — his only miss of the night — leaving the home side comfortable at 25-0. Marshall then added the bonus-point try at the posts with Jackson

converting.

ULSTER – C Gilroy; R Scholes, L Marshall (D Cave, 63), S Olding, J Stockdale; P Jackson, R Pienaar (P Marshall 75); K McCall (Black, 65), R Herring (capt, Andrews, 56), R Lutton (Warwick 47), P Browne (R Wilson 35-40; S Reidy 65), F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams (Wilson 64).

Scorers — Tries: Williams 2, Browne, P. Marshall; Cons: Jackson 3; Pens: Jackson 2.

ZEBRE: M Muliaina; U Beyers, G Bisegni, T Castello (Toniolatti 67), K Van Zyl, E Padovani (McKinley 40), F Semenzato (Burgess, 53); A De Marchi (Roan 40), O Fabiani (Coria, 73), D Chistolini (Ceccarelli 53), Q Geldenhuys (Koegelenberg, 67), M Bortolami (capt), E Caffini (Cristiano 64), F Ruzza, J Meyer.

Ref: George Clancy (Ireland).