Ulster 14 Gloucester 32: Gloucester made the perfect start to their Heineken Cup campaign with a thumping bonus-point win over Ulster at Ravenhill tonight.
The Cherry and Whites blitzed Ulster with five tries in the first half-hour to ensure maximum points.
Outhalf Ryan Lamb led the way with 12 points from a try, conversion and two penalties.
The visitors were out of the blocks with an early try after six minutes.
Akapusi Qera made huge ground through some soft Ulster defending, and Lamb put through a chip which Lesley Vainikolo touched down in the left corner.
Four minutes later, Gloucester had their second try — running from a scrum in their own 22 and Iain Balshaw slipping a pass for Mike Tindall to run in.
It was soon 17-0 when Lamb took an inside line and danced past some dreadful defending after Vainikolo had made an initial surge.
The Gloucester outside-half then converted his own try, and the Guinness Premiership leaders already looked out of sight.
The bonus point duly arrived after 20 minutes when a Paddy Wallace inside pass was collected by Lamb in his own 22, before he ran virtually the length of the field and then put James Simpson-Daniel clear.
It was little surprise when Gloucester scored a fifth try, this time Ulster losing the ball in contact — allowing Simpson-Daniel to put Balshaw in from about 50 metres out.
Lamb converted the full-back's 27th-minute score to put the Gloucester out of sight at 29-0.
A comeback seemed unlikely, but Ulster did get the scoreboard turning in the closing minutes of the half — firstly through Matt McCullough after an Andrew Trimble surge and then, in injury time, when Wallace raced through a gap after some rare pressure on the Gloucester line from his forwards.
Both were converted by Wallace to make it 29-14 to the visitors at the interval.
Despite a battling second-half effort, Ulster failed to score again — and Gloucester managed one effort, a 67th-minute penalty from Lamb.