Edinburgh 20 Ulster 42:ULSTER RAN in four tries in an impressive bonus-point performance against Edinburgh last night at Murrayfield to suggest the Ravenhill side are hitting a good seam ahead of their Heineken Cup matches later this month.
Stephen Ferris showed strength and subtlety and there were glimpses of class from Andrew Trimble. Ulster also had a good display from replacement scrumhalf Paul Marshal, who earned the man-of-the-match award for his two breaks that produced tries.
Marshal replaced Ian Humphreys after the outhalf was injured which meant Ruan Pienaar was moved from scrumhalf to the number 10 position. In the event Pienaar played a hugely influential part in Ulster’s win, both from his control of the game and his goal kicking. But it was the muscularity of the Ulster pack that really undid Edinburgh, in which respect All Black John Afoa did much damage against the home frontrow. Another to show up well was lock Dan Tuohy playing alongside experienced Johann Muller.
Ulster’s early commitment to running rugby brought points within three minutes, their pressure forcing a penalty which Humphreys made count. Edinburgh however came close to scoring when the league’s leading scorer Tim Visser collected a cross-kick from Phil Godman, only to be stopped short of the line.
But when Ulster returned to the attack Edinburgh offended at the contact area and again Humphreys capitalised. Ulster, however, were soon in arrears as their midfield mishandled from the restart allowing Nick De Luca to gain possession and scramble over, Greig Laidlaw adding the conversion points.
Minutes later Laidlaw added a penalty goal for a 10-6 lead but an offside decision again allowed Humphreys to cut the gap to one point. Almost immediately Humphreys was forced to retire, replaced by Paul Marshal with Ruan Pienaar moving to outhalf.
The reshuffled half-back partnership were soon helping to lead the Ulster attack, and when Edinburgh turned over ball the Ulstermen worked the ball right for hooker Rory Best to take an inside pass and crash over for an unconverted try.
From the restart Ferris was released up the touchline, the Ireland backrow fending off several defenders before delivering the scoring pass to Dan Tuohy for a 19-10 lead. But just on half-time Laidlaw landed his second penalty goal to leave Ulster 19-13 ahead at the break.
Ulster struck first with a penalty goal by Pienaar after the break. Then after a break by Marshal, Trimble raced past Visser to score his side’s third try, Pienaar converting to give Ulster a 29-13 lead before a second penalty from Pienaar. Edinburgh improved their situation with a try off the back of the lineout by replacement hooker Alun Walker and a conversion by Laidlaw. But Edinburgh’s hopes of a late challenge were dashed when Marshal again made a break, Trimble linked and Darren Cave dived in at the corner. Pienaar converted and added a penalty before the end.
EDINBURGH: C Paterson (J Thompson 59); T Brown, N De Luca, J King (M Scott 31), T Visser; P Godman (C Leck 48), G Laidlaw; A Jacobsen (K Traynor 67), R Ford ( A Walker 52), G Cross (J Gilding 69), S Cox, E Lozada, S McInally (A MacDonald 60), R Grant, N Talei.
ULSTER: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, I Whitten (P Wallace 60), C Gilroy; I Humphreys (P Marshal 21), R Pienaar; T Court (C Black 77), R Best (A Kyriacou 61), J Afoa (A Macklin 77), J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris (L Stevenson 70), C Henry, P Wannenburg (W Faloon 11).
Referee: G Clancy (IRFU)
