Dominant Ulster rock Cardiff with with five-try blitz in second half

Cardiff 19 Ulster 48:ULSTER HONOURED Nevin Spence with an emphatic seven-try victory over Cardiff Blues to ease the pain of a devastating two weeks. The young centre died alongside his father Noel and brother Graham in an accident at their Hillsborough farm two weeks ago.

Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe admitted Ulster were desperate to get back on the pitch following the testing period and they continued their unbeaten start to the RaboDirect PRO12 season.

The Ravenhill outfit chose not to wear black armbands in honour of Spence but wore a personalised tribute on their jerseys, in the form of his initials – something that will remain below the club badge for the remainder of the season.

And following an impeccably observed minute’s silence, with numerous Ulster flags flying inside the iconic Cardiff venue, Anscombe’s men began their healing process on the pitch.

Cardiff opened the scoring but Ulster soon exerted their dominance with tries from Michael Allen and Nick Williams.

The floodgates opened in the second half and Ulster ran in a further five tries from Bowe (two), Payne, Williams and Andrew Trimble. Cardiff’s woes were also compounded by the suspected broken leg suffered byouthalf Jason Tovey.

Darren Cave knocked on straight from the kick-off and Cardiff quickly took the lead thanks to the boot of Jason Tovey.

The Welsh region were also affected by the passing of Spence, with former Ulster hooker Andy Kyriacou starting for the Blues against his old team-mates.

In the build up to the RaboDirect PRO12 clash, Kyriacou admitted he had been hit hard by the passing of Spence. But he believed Cardiff could pay the ultimate tribute to Spence by performing on the pitch and playing their part in a top-quality encounter.

Ulster appeared rusty in the opening exchanges and Cardiff quickly piled on the pressure. Tom James surged down the left win and grubber-kicked past Paul Marshall and Jared Payne.

But with three players chasing the ball the hosts got in each other’s way and Sam Warburton ultimately knocked on.

Tovey extended Cardiff’s lead on eight minutes, after Andrew Trimble was caught offside, but Paddy Jackson quickly hit-back.

Ulster continued to build momentum and were putting Cardiff under serious pressure at the scrum.

And it was Ulster pack that made the inroads for their opening try with Nick Williams launching a major charge up field.

They turned the screw at scrum-time and following several resets on the five metre line the ball was spread wide to Michael Allen who twisted over for the try that Jackson converted.

But it was to be the academy star’s last act as he hobbled off with an injury.

Tovey instantly responded to restore the hosts’ lead but it did not last long. Marshall surged down the blindside off the back of a dominant scrum. He linked with Iain Henderson, who ignored the overlap but the ball was recycled and Williams powered over.

Cardiff rallied in the closing stages of the half but Ulster’s steel defence held strong, with some thunderous hits from Trimble and Williams, as the score remained 17-9 at the interval.

The Blues were dealt a major blow just before the break with Tovey carried off with a cracked fibula.

Tovey’s replacement, Gareth Davies, got the scoreboard ticking once more but from there it was virtually all Ulster.

Making his first competitive appearance since returning to the province, Bowe got the ball rolling. A sublime slip pass from Jackson created the opening and the Irish flyer skipped past James to score.

Ulster quickly put the result beyond doubt with two tries in as many minutes. Jared Payne grabbed the first after collecting his own chip to race clear and wrap up the bonus-point.

Then Bowe completed the rout with his second – to take his Celtic rugby tally to 48.

Cardiff nicked a consolation try when Harry Robinson latched on to James’ flick pass but Anscombe’s men quickly extinguished any hope of a comeback as Williams crossed in the corner for his second.

But there was still time to grab a seventh try and Trimble romped home to inflict Cardiff’s worst home defeat in RaboDirect Pro12 competition.

CARDIFF BLUES: D Fish; H Robinson, D Hewitt, J Roberts, T James; J Tovey (G Davies 36), L Williams; N Trevett (C Ma’afu 46), A Kyriacou (R Williams 53), T Filise, B Davies, J Down (L Reed 46), R Copeland (R Watts-Jones 53), S Warburton (capt), A Pretorious. Replacements: S Andrews, R Lewis, T Williams.

ULSTER: J Payne; T Bowe (C Gilroy 63), M Allen (P Wallace 18), D Cave, A Trimble; P Jackson, P Marshall (M Heaney 67); T Court (C Black 67), N Brady (R Herring 67), J Afoa (A Macklin 74), N McComb (L Stevenson 67), D Tuohy, I Henderson (M McComish 63), C Henry (capt), N Williams.