By Etienne Turpin
Jacob Stockdale produced a player of the match performance as his two tries helped Ulster to a convincing win over the Ospreys in Belfast on Friday night. McCormick also claimed two tries as Ulster temporarily moved up to third in the URC table.
The Ospreys made multiple changes to the side that lost to the Bulls in Swansea last Saturday but welcomed back Keelan Giles who scored 10 tries last season for his first appearance. Ulster made several changes too and brought back Ireland international Stuart McCloskey.
Ulster got the first try of the game inside the opening five minutes through a driving maul. Richie Murphy’s men went for the corner, and it paid off as they drove over the Ospreys line for the early score.
Ulster doubled their lead minutes later through Stockdale. Quick hands opened space in a narrow corner allowing the winger to run in untouched. Cooney has had a difficult start to the season with the kicking tee and was unable to convert the difficult conversion.
Ulster’s dominance continued in the second quarter of the game as they were awarded a penalty try when Kieran Hardy collapsed a maul close to the line.
Ulster almost scored the try of the season as they broke out from their 22 and linked up brilliantly with multiple offloads. Stockdale finishing it off with a lovely step however, Tom O’Toole’s pass to Morgan went forward, saving the Ospreys from finding themselves four tries down again like last week.
Ulster eventually made the most of the sin bin as they got their bonus point through Marcus Rea after a spell of intense pressure. The backrow crashed over from close range with the Ospreys unable to contain the Ulster attack.
The Ospreys got one back on the stroke of half time through a Sam Parry try which gave his side their first points of the game. In-form flyhalf Dan Edwards’ conversion went in off the posts.
James McCormick scored his second of the night from a tap and go, potentially made to easy for him by poor Ospreys defence. Cooney’s struggles from the tee remained as he shanked the conversion wide.
The home side were temporarily reduced to 14 men when Harry Sheridan was sin binned for making indirect contact to Owen Williams head.
The Ospreys hit back with a try to Keelan Giles after a fine pass from replacement Tom Florence opened the space on Giles’ wing for his first score of the season.
But Ulster hit back almost straight away with Jacob Stockdale finishing off an outrageous try, holding off the challenge of Keelan Giles to finish right in the corner. The winger finished off a NRL-esque try as Ulster got their sixth of the game, expertly converted by Nathan Doak.
Ulster: 34
TRIES: 6 (McCormick 5’, 51’, Stockdale 10’, 65’, Penalty Try 24’, Rea 33’)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Cooney 34’, Doak 66’)
PENALTIES: 0
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Sheridan 56’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Mike Lowry, 14. Werner Kok, 13. Ben Carson, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Aidan Morgan, 9. John Cooney, 1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. James McCormick, 3. Tom O’Toole, 4. Alan O’Connor, 5. Harry Sheridan, 6. Cormac Izuchukwu, 7. Marcus Rea, 8. David McCann.
16. Tadgh McElroy, 17. Callum Reid, 18. Scott Wilson, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Matty Rea, 21. Nathan Doak, 22. James Humphreys, 23. Jude Postlethwaite.
Ospreys: 12
TRIES: 2 (Parry 40’, Giles 62’)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Edwards 40’)
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Hardy 24’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Jack Walsh 14. Dan Kasende, 13. Evan Boshoff, 12. Owen Williams, 11. Keelan Giles, 10. Dan Edwards, 9. Kieran Hardy, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Ben Warren, 4. Will Greatbanks, 5. Lewis Jones, 6. Lewis Lloyd, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Morgan Morris.
16. Ethan Lewis, 17. Garyn Phillips, 18. Math Iorwerth-Scott, 19. Rhys Thomas, 20. Dan Gemine, 21. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22. Tom Florence, 23. Max Nagy.
Five Talking Points: Ulster 36 – 12 Ospreys
- Successive slow starts for Ospreys
The Welsh region found themselves 26-points early on last week against the Bulls and it was a similar story in Belfast as Ulster stormed to a 24-0 lead in the opening half an hour.
2. Stockdale knocking on door for Ireland?
The winger got two tries including a sensation finish and one disallowed try for the Irish winger. Was awarded player of the match to top it all off.
3. Four defeats in Five for Ospreys
After a strong end to last season, the Ospreys will be disappointed to go one win from five. A last-minute defeat to the Dragons but three convincing defeats.
4. Nathan Doak pushing for the Nine shirt
The young scrum half put on another fine display off the bench as he looks to claim the starting spot off John Cooney. However, despite his poor form off the boot, the veteran is showing no signs of slowing down.
5. Debutants for Ospreys.
A much changed Ospreys side saw players make their debut off the bench, Rhys Thomas and Dan Gemine came off in the latter stages for their first ever Ospreys appearances.
