Ulster beat Benetton 15-10 at Stadio Comunale di Monigo while Connacht brushed aside the Dragons 33-12 at the Sportsground in PRO14 action on Saturday.
Benetton 10-15 Ulster
Ulster claimed a 15-10 victory over Benetton at Stadio Comunale di Monigo on Saturday.
Benetton opened the scoring with a try by hooker Hame Faiva in the fourth minute, converted by Tommaso Allan. A Billy Burns penalty on the half-hour mark cut the deficit to four points.
Ulster made a fantastic start to the second half when Sean Reidy dotted down in the 44th minute. It was unconverted, but the visitors still held a slender 8-7 lead.
And when Rob Herring crashed over ten minutes later from a powerful driving maul, the visitors had extended their lead to 13-7 before Burns added the extras for 15-7.
Allan cut the deficit to five points with a penalty in the 63rd minute to give the Italians a glimmer of hope, but it was not to be as Ulster held on for a precious away victory.
The scorers:
For Benetton:
Try: Faiva
Con: Allan
Pen: Allan
For Ulster:
Tries: Reidy, Herring
Con: Burns
Pen: Burns
Benetton: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Ratuva Tavuyara, 13 Ignacio Brex, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Benvenuti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Dean Budd (c), 5 Alessandro Zanni, 4 Irné Herbst, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Derrick Appiah
Replacements: 16 Tomas Baravalle, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Giovanni Pettinelli, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Antonio Rizzi, 23 Angelo Esposito
Ulster: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Clive Ross, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Johnny Stewart, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Angus Kernohan
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Blain (Scotland), Gabriel Chirnoaga (Italy)
Television match official: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Connacht 33-12 Dragons
Connacht claimed a comprehensive 33-12 victory over the Dragons at the Sportsground on Saturday.
It was a quiet opening quarter but the game burst in to life when the hosts scored three quickfire tries to blow their opponents out of the water. James Cannon, Darragh Leader and Colby Fainga’a touched down in as many minutes for a 19-0 lead.
Tom McCartney scored the bonus-point try just before the half-time break as the home side took a 26-0 lead into the interval. Wales international Hallam Amos would respond for the Dragons in the 57th minute.
Thomas Farrell then got in on the act for a clinical Connacht team. Taine Basham scored for the Dragons five minutes after the hooter but it was a mere consolation as the Dragons were 33-12 losers in the end.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Cannon, Leader, Fainga’a, McCartney, Farrell
Cons: Horwitz 3, Carty
For Dragons:
Tries: Amos, Basham
Con: Tovey
Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Colm De Buitléar, 10 David Horwitz, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jarrad Butler (c), 7 Colby Fainga’a, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Conán O’Donnell, 19 Joe Maksymiw, 20 James Connolly, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Eoin Griffin
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Hallam Amos, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Will Talbot-Davies, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Harrison Keddie, 5 Lewis Evans, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (c), 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Dan Suter, 19 James Thomas, 20 Huw Taylor, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Adam Warren
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jonny Erskine (Ireland), Robert O’Sullivan (Ireland)
Television match official: Leo Colgan (Ireland)