TOYOTA CHEETAHS 63 ULSTER 26
Tonight in Bloemfontein Ulster simply could not live with the pace, power and intensity of a much-improved Toyota Cheetahs team, leaking nine tries at 4,500 feet and only securing the scant consolation of a four-try bonus point in the dying seconds.
Sam Carter, James Hume, David Shanahan and Craig Gilroy all got on the scoresheet for the tourists, but in truth Ulster were no match for the explosive running of the Cheetahs’ back three, authors of six of the nine scores, or indeed for a certain Ruan Pienaar, who effortlessly directed proceedings against his former clubmates – and contributed twelve points himself from the boot.
The sole personnel changes from the matchday side that put five tries past the Ospreys Friday last saw Clonmel-born Bill Johnston make his Ulster debut at out-half in place of last week’s Man of the Match Billy Burns, and Eric O’Sullivan come in as a late replacement at loosehead for Jack McGrath.
Otherwise unchanged, Ulster lined up with Matt Faddes and Gilroy – both try-scorers last week – at full-back and right wing respectively, with Rob Lyttle on the left flank, and the tandem of Hume and Luke Marshall continuing in midfield. Johnston teamed up with scrum-half John Cooney to complete the back seven.
In the pack tighthead Tom O’Toole paired with O’Sullivan and hooker Rob Herring, while Carter and Kieran Treadwell continued in the second row ahead of flankers Matthew Rea and Sean Reidy, and Number Eight Greg Jones, who also got his name on the scoresheet against the Ospreys.
After a scrappy start from both sides with a lost lineout from Ulster and careless hands at pace from the hosts, the Cheetahs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and eventually caught out their opponents wide on the left, Anthonie Volmink eluding Faddes and Cooney for the try and Pienaar adding the extras.
A Cheetahs offside soon brought Ulster a five-metre rolling maul, from which good ball retention edged the visitors ever closer to the line until another infringement saw the set-piece reset, but good hands in the maul from the South Africans prevented the ball from making its way backwards to Cooney, and possession was lost.
Ulster continued to press, and another offside was quick in coming, but voracious defending from the Cheetahs gave them insufficient time on the ball, and they were fortunate to get a scrum put-in for a marginal knock-on. The orange and black defensive wall remained impenetrable, however, and Hume’s effort to change things up with a kick towards the line failed to pay off.
As the Cheetahs took back control on 22 minutes Volmink’s second try was all about pace, the winger leaving Carter for dead on halfway before wrong-footing the onrushing Faddes and outpacing Cooney to the line for a fine individual score, converted again by Pienaar.
The tries kept coming thick and fast, Ulster opening their account on 25 minutes thanks to a defence-splitting pass from O’Sullivan, strong carry from Rea and touchdown from Carter, but not to be outdone, full-back Rhyno Smith wasted little time from the restart in emulating Volmink’s spectacular second, the full-back bamboozling Herring, Cooney, Faddes and Johnston with a weaving diagonal run to score a bona fide try-of-the-season contender.
Eyeing up a bonus point before the break, Cheetahs went for the driving maul from a 37th-minute penalty, and prolific hooker Jospeh Dweba – author of a brace against Glasgow in last week’s 48 – 14 victory – rumbled over from the perfectly-executed set-piece to clinch it, Pienaar’s conversion rounding off a near-flawless half from the South Africans.
Half-Time Score Toyota Cheetahs 28 Ulster 7
Any hopes of an Ulster comeback were swiftly extinguished within three minutes of the restart, Volmink alertly intercepting a Faddes pass meant for Gilroy and darting over for his hat-trick.
Two minutes later the champagne rugby continued, Dries Swanepoel exposing a gap in the Ulster line and bursting through before supplying Smith with the cutest of offloads for try number six.
Flanker Junior Pokomela and replacement Louis Fouche combined on 50 minutes for the seventh, before, to Ulster’s credit, a spell of decent possession was capped by a Hume try just before the hour mark.
With Dweba yellow-carded on 62 minutes for cynically killing the ball, multiple Ulster replacements gelled well and scrum-half Shanahan seized on a loose ball popping out of a five-metre scrum for away try number three.
Replacement prop Reinach Venter took his side over the 50-point mark with the eighth try on 70 minutes, but the Cheetahs were still not done, earning a penalty try with three minutes remaining after Ulster collapsed a scrum in front of the posts.
Gilroy nipped over with seconds remaining to ensure his side left Bloemfontein with something to show for their efforts, but Head Coach Dan McFarland will be demanding much more from his side in a week’s time when the South African mini-tour comes to a close against the Southern Kings in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Full-Time Score Toyota Cheetahs 63 Ulster 26
Toyota Cheetahs (15 – 9) Rhyno Smith; William Small-Smith, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Dries Swanepoel, Anthonie Volmink; Tian Schoeman, Ruan Pienaar (c)
(1 – 8) Ox Nche, Joseph Dweba, Erich De Jager, Sintu Manjezi, Walt Steenkamp, Gerhardus Olivier, Junior Pokomela, Henco Venter
Replacements (16 – 23) Reinach Venter, Boan Venter, Neethling Fouche, JP Du Preez, Sias Koen, Jasper Wiese, Tian Meyer, Louis Fouche
Ulster (15 – 9) Matt Faddes; Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, James Hume, Robert Lyttle; Bill Johnston, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring (c), Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Sam Carter, Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Greg Jones
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor, Clive Ross, David Shanahan, Michael Lowry, Louis Ludik
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