Last-gasp Ulster back to winning ways against Scarlets

Rugby World Cup

Ulster (13) 30

Cons: Murphy 2, Doak Pens: Murphy 3 Tries: Timoney, Reid, O’Connor

Scarlets (15) 28

Ulster defeated Scarlets 30 to 28 in the final tries of Alan O’Connor’s 79th-minute victory at Kingspan Stadium.

The Irish province, who had fallen to 15th in the Rugby World Cup (URC) prior to kick-off, were 28-23 behind in the closing stages but O’Connor’s close-range score and Nathan Doak’s subsequent conversion saw them narrowly avoid a third league loss in succession.

In a back-and-forth game, Scarlets had a lead of 12-0 at half-time and a lead of 15-13 at half-time, but when Ulster came out on top, they were forced to settle for a try in the final game.

With Scarlets failing to advance to the league’s play-off spots, Ulster moves up to 12th overall.

In the opening 11 minutes, Ulster started badly and conceded twice in what Richie Murphy had referred to as a “must-win” game.

When Scarlets took the lead for the first time, it was only five minutes.

For a straightforward opening score, wing Macs Page collected his kick over the top of the ruck after scrum-half Gareth Davies was aware of a lack of backfield cover.

Five minutes later, Page found and made use of the ample space in the Ulster defense before converting to Ioan Nicholas for Scarlets’ second try.

After Scarlets were pinged for ruck infringing, Ulster was awarded the board. Timoney dotted down at the tail of a powerful maul before the hosts turned around after the penalty.

Ulster, who was cheered up by the score, decided to go for the posts and lessen the deficit when the penalty was awarded, preferring to try their maul once more.

Only moments before half-time, when Jack Murphy once more called for the tee and his protracted effort just crept over the crossbar to put his side ahead for the first time, it was the same policy.

In the opening moments of the second half, Murphy and Lloyd exchanged shots off the tee, but Ulster turned down a number of kickable penalties before Callum Reid finally bursowed his way over the line from close range.

However, Scarlets quickly rose to the top thanks to Matt Dalton’s effort to keep the bouncing ball alive but instead scooped it into Alec Hepburn’s arms as Dwayne Peel’s side capitalized on more scrappy play from Ulster.

As he galloped into open space and under the posts, the Scarlets prop left for Vaea Fifita, where there was no catch of the replacement back rower.

In the final 10 minutes of the game, the Welsh region had a golden opportunity to lead by two scores, but James McNabney hacked clear after being pressured hard and the ball squirted loose from a ruck almost on the Ulster line.

Andrew, Crean, O’Toole, Treadwell, McCann, Doak, Flannery, Postlethwaite, and others are the replacements.

Scarletts: Nicholas, Page, Roberts, Williams, Lewis, Lloyd, Davies, Hepburn, Wainwright, Craig, Lousi, Douglas, Davis, Taylor, and Craig.

Van der Merwe, O’Connor, Price, Fifita, Hughes, Titcombe, and Evans are the replacements.