Ferris leads Ulster into bonus territory

Ulster 31 Aironi 10:THEY GOT what they needed which was an achievement in itself as this was Ulster's first try bonus of the season, but it couldn't have come at a better time as Brian McLaughlin's squad stayed alive in Europe and went to the top of Pool Four ahead of Sunday's clash between Clermont and Leicester.

They now got to Aironi next Saturday in rude health and though they need to repeat their five-pointer, which is never guaranteed in Italy, there was enough firepower and hunger on display at a chilly Ravenhill to give plenty of encouragement ahead of the second outing in their European double-header.

Yes, they did lose their way a bit in the first half and were greatly helped by the binning of Giulio Toniolatti, but Ulster did what they needed to do and with Stephen Ferris leading the charge again, until he, Andrew Trimble and Rory Best made way in the second half, Ulster were good for their win.

Man-of-the-match Ferris scored again as did Trimble, Adam D’Arcy, and replacements Paul Marshall and Paddy Jackson. There was also a more than useful return from Ruan Pienaar and a debut, though not exactly notable, for 36-year-old temporary signing Stefan Terblanche.

With the bonus-point win being the clear priority, Ulster decided to spurn a couple of early penalty chances to kick for the corner.

Though that tactic didn’t initially lead to anything, Ulster had set their stall out and with the returned Pienaar giving great service to Ian Humphreys, the home side’s outhalf was able to try a number of neat plays and off-loads as Ulster tried to run Aironi off the park in the opening exchanges.

It all clicked after 16 minutes, though, when some decent approach work saw the ball shifted left and Pedrie Wannenburg’s perfectly timed pass saw Ferris hit the line with power and he surged into the left corner for a score which Humphreys then superbly converted.

Typically, though, Ulster almost immediately conceded a penalty and Tito Tebaldi sent the ball between the posts to narrow Ulster’s lead to 7-3. The Italian out-half was then wide with a long-range attempt before Humphreys missed a straightforward-looking chance which would have settled the home side.

Ulster then got two lucky breaks just when they needed them as Tebaldi then pushed what seemed a clear three-pointer past the upright after 32 minutes and then, four minutes later, fullback Giulio Toniolatti was sinbinned by English referee Andrew Small after interfering with the ball following Pienaar’s re-gather of his own Garryowen.

The net result came two minutes later when a seven-man Aironi scrum was shunted backwards and, after Ulster rightly opted for the put-in, Nevin Spence was launched at full tilt and following a few nibbles on the line in the right corner, the ball was put wide to the left and D’Arcy made the line in virtually the same spot as Ferris.

This time Humphreys couldn’t make the conversion and a relieved Ulster trooped off leading 12-3 – and halfway to their coveted bonus-point objective.

They hit the ground running on the restart with a great wraparound from Pienaar with Rory Best allowing D’Arcy to fix the defence and put Trimble in some space though the Ireland winger had to work hard for his score which was unconverted by Humphreys to make it 17-3.

With Aironi fullback Toniolatti coming back from the bin just after Trimble’s score, Ulster had put on a useful 10 points in his absence before Terblanche, on his debut, Paul Marshall and Tom Court were brought on for Trimble, Pienaar and Paddy McCallister respectively.

The impact was swift as from a lineout take from Muller, Simone Favaro strayed offside and Marshall scored from a quick tap for the bonus score Ulster had needed so much.

Humphreys duly slotted the conversion to make it 24-3.

With seemingly mass substitutions breaking up the game’s pattern, there was still more to come from Ulster as substitute Paddy Jackson ran a nice loop and made the try line. Humphreys kicked his third conversion and Ulster now led 31-3.

Replacement hooker Tommaso D’Apice’s late score, converted by Naas Oliver, was of little consolation for Aironi.

ULSTER: A D'Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; P McAllister, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg Replacements: S Terblanche for A Trimble, P Marshall for R Pienaar and T Court for P McCallister (all 51 mins), P Jackson for N Spence (53 mins), R Diack for Ferris and L Stevenson for Tuohy (both 66 mins).

AIRONI:G Toniolatti ; S Sinoti, R Quartaroli, G Pizarro, M Pratichetti; T Tebaldi, T Keats; S Perugini, F Ongaro, L Romano, C del Fava, M Bortolami [capt], N Cattina, S Favaro, J Sole. Replacements: Bronzini for Tibaldi (43 mins), Ade Marchi for Perugini (55), L Redolfini for L Romano (58), T D'Apice for F Ongaro and G Bronzini for T Keats, N Oliver for R Quartaroli all (59), A Benettin for G Pizarro (67 mins).

Referee:Andrew Small (England).