With Dan McFarlane’s departure Assistant Coach Dan Soper named a young team for the United Rugby clash with Dragons at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday night.
Ulster got off to a flyer, with Will Addison’s touchdown in the right corner. John Cooney’s conversion from the touchline gave Ulster a 7-0 lead, after 5 minutes.
Unfortunately, the good work was undone when the Dragon’s James Benjamin scored from a driving maul. Will Reed’s conversion tied the game at 7-7, after 11 minutes.
After that it was all Ulster for the rest of the 1st half. Tries from Mike Lowry, 18 and 33 minutes and Harry Sheridan, 30 minutes, all converted by Cooney had Ulster 28-7 up at the break.
The 2nd half was a mixed bag. Tries by David McCann, 57 and 75 minutes and a Nick Timoney try, after 72 minutes, all converted by Cooney, were countered by Dragons tries by Matthew Screech, 52 minutes, Brodie Coghlan 65 minutes, a conversion by Reed and a penalty try to leave the final score 49-26 in Ulster’s favour.
Ulster will be pleased with the attacking display but be concerned by their defensive frailties.
