Glasgow deny Ulster bonus point to draw level in table

Glasgow Warriors 27 Ulster 17

Ulster’s position in the top four of the Guinness Pro 12 became just a little more insecure after Glasgow Warriors produced a strong second-half performance to achieve win which puts the Scottish provincial side level with Ulster.

Glasgow, who have a game in hand, on balance just deserved their win if only because they were the more adventurous with ball in hand, relying less, as Ulster had done, on the strength of their forward pack and more on the silky skills of their talented back division.

But Ulster deserved credit for quick thinking in the execution of their second try and for a number of fine individual performances, notably by centre Stuart McCloskey, who enhanced his reputation as a strong running midfielder, and wing Craig Gilroy, who twice gave the Glasgow defence the slip

Ulster’s pressure from the kick-off had Glasgow in deep trouble as first Ruan Pienaar charged down Finn Russell’s clearance kick and then McCloskey broke through a disorganised defence

Worse was to follow when the Six Nations player of the championship, Stuart Hogg, was sin-binned for illegal pirating of possession. Then from a scrum Ulster moved the ball left for fullback Stuart Olding to deliver a perfect inside pass that sent Iain Henderson in under the posts, Paddy Jackson adding the easy conversion.

Ulster threatened again with a break by Gilroy but this time Glasgow’s defence answered the emergency call. Warriors seemed to gain confidence and with Hogg back on the field the pressure was on Ulster but the dividend was small, a penalty goal by Russell.

Another spell of Glasgow dominance produced a second penalty for Russell, reducing Ulster’s lead to one point only for a Jackson penalty to give the visitors a more comfortable cushion. But just before half-time Russell converted more Glasgow pressure into points with his third penalty goal leaving Ulster going into the break with a 10-9 advantage.

As in the first half Ulster produced a shock score. Pienaar found touch with a penalty kick and instead of waiting for the lineout to form the ball was thrown in quickly to McCloskey who romped over unopposed; Jackson converting for a 17-9 lead.

Shaken by this second-half start from Ulster, Glasgow were stirred into action and were rewarded with their first try of the match, Hogg showing individual skill, following up his own kick ahead to win the race for the touch down.

Then with Glasgow's adrenalin pumping the home side produced a second try in the space of five minutes, this time Scotland wing Tommy Seymour collecting a cross kick from Russell before outpacing the defence to score Glasgow's second try; Russell converting for 21-17 lead.

Ulster responded with furious attacking rugby, using their big forwards to make the initial dents before spreading the ball wide and testing Glasgow’s defence to the limit. Having resisted Ulster’s pressure, Glasgow then returned to attacking rugby, and after a break by Russell, the home side were awarded a penalty which Russell converted into three points giving the Warriors a 24-17 lead.

Then with three and half minutes of the game remaining Ulster were penalised but this time Russell was off target. With the game showing full-time Hogg then kicked a massive goal from inside his own half to deny Ulster what would have been a valuable bonus point

GLASGOW: S Hogg; T Seymour, M Bennett, A Dunbar, S Lamont; F Russell, H Pyrgos; G Reid , F Brown, S Puafisi; J Gray, L Nakarawa; R Harley, C Fusaro J Strauss.

Replacements: R Wilson for Fusaro (23 mins), G Hart for Pyrgos (67 mins), J Yanuyanutawa for Reid (69 mins), J Malcolm for Brown (69 mins), Z Fagerson for Puafisi (69 mins), T Swinson for Strauss (63 mins).

ULSTER: S Olding; C Gilroy, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Scholes; P Jackson, R Pienaar; C Black, R Herring, R Lutton; A O'Connor, F van der Merwe; I Henderson, C Henry, N Williams.

Replacements: R Diack for A O'Connor (27 mins), S Reidy for N Williams (40 mins), K McCall for C Black (63 mins), P Marshall for R Pienaar, A Warwick for Lutton (75 mins), D Cave for R Scholes (77 mins).

Referee: J Lacey (IRFU).