Ulster lose to Connacht as Pro14 returns after six-month break

Andy Friend’s side outscored Ulster by four tries to two.

Ulster had already qualified for the semi-finals after Edinburgh’s win over Glasgow on Saturday.

More concerning than the result and performance for Ulster was the number of injuries they shipped, hooker Rob Herring had to withdraw before the game and his replacement Adam McBurney was also injured, Alan O’Connor and James Hume also picked up knocks.

John Cooney put Ulster in front with a 6th minute penalty after Connacht infringed at the breakdown.

Connacht struck back on 12 minutes with a well-worked try.

Ulster conceded a penalty at the scrum and Connacht kicked deep into Ulster territory.

The western province secured the lineout and worked the ball through a number of phases in the Ulster 22, Denis Buckley fed Jack Carty, the out half drew the defence before releasing full back John Porch with a basketball-style pass to dart over unopposed.

Carty added the conversion, Cooney landed his second penalty on 20 minutes from straight in front of the posts when Connacht lock Ultan Dillane failed to roll away from a ruck.

Connacht carved open the Ulster defence again three minutes later.

The forwards carried into Ulster territory, Adam Wotton injected pace before offloading out of the tackle to Porch, the full back put in a perfectly weighted grubber kick and the ball sat up for scrum half Kieran Marmion to collect and cross the whitewash with Carty converting.

Cooney had a chance to reduce Connacht’s lead with another penalty but he pushed his kick wid and Connacht went into the break with a 14-6 advantage.

Stuart McCloskey’s barnstorming run nearly produced a try but the centre was stopped just short of the line.

From another driving maul McBurney was held up over the line again.

Ulster finally breached the Connacht try line on 48 minutes, from a scrum Nick Timoney and Tom O’Toole had big carries, the ball was spun wide and Billy Burns floated a pass to full back Jacob Stockdale to touchdown, with Cooney off Burns slotted over the conversion.

When James Hume gave away a penalty Connacht opted for the scrum, Marmion hit centre Bundee Aki on the crash ball and the centre powered through three Ulster defenders to go under the posts with Carty knocking over the simple convert.

Connacht hooker Jonny Murphy was sin binned on 60 minutes for a no arms tackle, Ulster opted for a scrum and Timoney was able to control the ball at the back and touch down as the forwards drove over with debutant Ian Madigan adding the conversion.

Connacht wrapped the game and their bonus point up on 78 minutes as replacement prop Jack Aungier barged over from close range but Carty failed to convert.

Connacht: J Porch, P Sullivan, T Farrell, B Aki, A Wootton; J Carty, K Marmion, D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham; U Dillane, G Thornbury; E Masterson, J Butler, P Boyle,

Replacements: J Murphy for Heffernan 57 mins, J Duggan, J Aungier for Bealham 76 mins, N Murray for Thornberry 42 mins, C Oliver for Materson 68 mins, S Kerins, C Dean, T Daly for Farrell 73 mins

Ulster: J Stockdale, C Gilroy, J Hume, S McCloskey, L Ludik; B Burns, J Cooney, J McGrath, A McBurney M Moore, A O’Connor, K Treadwell; N Timoney, J Murphy, M Coetzee,

Replacements: J Andrew for 56 mins, E O’Sullivan for McGrath 41 mins, T O’Toole for Moore 41 mins , S Carter for O’Connor 31 mins, M Rea for Coetzee 46 mins, Alby Mathewson for Cooney 41 mins, I Madigan for Burns 52 mins, M Lowry for Hume 72 mins

Ref F Murphy (IRFU).