Connacht ended their long wait for an Interpro victory in the BKT United Rugby Championship in impressive fashion as Stuart Lancaster’s side held off Ulster for a bonus-point 26-19 victory at Affidea Stadium.
Finn Treacy scored two tries in a back and forth second half, to give the western province their fourth URC win in a row, lifting them into the top half of the table for the time being.
The province, who had lost each of their last 12 Irish derbies, never trailed during the 80 minutes, as Bundee Aki delivered a defensive masterclass in a man of the match performance.
The sides were level at 7-7 after a scrappy and error-strewn first half, with Sean Jansen’s try cancelled out by Ulster’s Nathan Doak, while Connacht had to survive the minutes either side of half time with 14 players after Finlay Bealham was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Tom Stewart.
Bealham made up for that mistake with his side’s second try, which was followed soon after by Treacy as the visitors moved 19-7 ahead.
Finn Treacy (l) is congratulated by Bundee Aki
But although Zac Ward got Ulster back into the contest with a second Ulster try, Treacy’s second of the night secured the bonus-point, as Connacht held off a late Ulster fightback to pick up a vital win, and arguably their best under Lancaster this season.
The first half was a desperate affair, with the opening quarter littered with knock-ons from either side, while Ulster saw two good opportunities in the 22 fall apart with a malfunctioning lineout.
A Jack Carty break through the defence on 17 minutes got the game going, as Aki followed up with a powerful carry before Connacht won a penalty, from which Jansen broke through for his 11th try of the season, converted by Sean Naughton to make it 7-0.
It was a short-lived lead though. Bryn Ward – on as a temporary replacement for Marcus Rea – found himself in space in the 25th minute, and the young back-row bounced through the tackle of Carty before passing back inside to Doak (below), who ran in under the posts before converting his own try to level the game at 7-7.
The game could have swung dramatically before the break when Bealham was sin-binned for a head-high tackle on Stewart, but an impressive Connacht defence made it to half time level, aided by Aki’s brilliant jackal penalty to deny Ulster in the 22.
Ulster should have gone in front seven minutes into the second half after Ben Carson knocked the ball on just metres from the Connacht line when he looked certain to score, and it proved to be a costly error as the visitors welcomed back Bealham from the sin-bin, before bringing on Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane in their half-backs.
Murphy and Ioane changed the game, bringing pace to the Connacht attack, and on 57 minutes their impact was felt, as a series of carries from Josh Murphy Cian Prendergast and Cathal Forde led to Bealham squeezing over the line for Connacht’s second try.
It would get even better four minutes later as the half-back pairing linked up again, reacting to a bouncing ball to get their side rolling forward, before they moved the ball wide through Prendergast and Dave Heffernan, the latter drawing in the last Ulster defender to send Treacy (below) racing down the touchline for their third try.
With the game slipping away from them, Ulster hit back quickly as a skip-pass from Jacob Stockdale found Zac Ward on the left touchline, an the wing dummied Naughton to run in for his team’s second try, although Jack Murphy’s missed conversion left it 19-12 in Connacht’s favour.
Having got themselves back into the contest, Ulster switched off with 12 minutes remaining. Niall Murray ran a great dummy line to suck in the defence, before Connacht sent it wide to Treacy on the right wing, and the 21-year-old stepped inside Zac Ward before fending off Murphy, and diving over for the bonus-point score.
Naughton’s conversion made it a 14-point game, and while Ulster did give themselves a fighting chance with an Angus Bell try with five minutes remaining, Richie Murphy’s side would have to settle for a losing bonus-point, denting their hopes of a home-quarter-final later this season.
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