Ulster maintain winning start to Pro14 with victory over Ospreys at Liberty Stadium

Ulster made it two wins out of two in the Pro14 as they beat the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

However, the victory was soured as captain Iain Henderson received a straight red card on 75 minutes which could see him miss the rest of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign which resumes against Italy in two weeks.

Ulster managed the wet conditions better with Jacob Stockdale imperious under the high ball and superb with his counter-attacking, while man of the match Marcell Coetzee punched holes in the Ospreys defence providing plenty of front foot ball.

Ulster took the lead on seven minutes. After winning to penalty Ian Madigan kicked to the corner, the forwards set up a maul before the ball was spun infield, Marcus Rea was stopped short after a strong carry, Madigan hit full back Stockdale on the crash ball and despite juggling it in the slippery conditions the Irish international was able to hold on and dart over, with John Cooney converting.

Out-half Stephen Myler registered the Ospreys first points on 21 minutes after flanker Justin Tipuric won a penalty against Stockdale at the breakdown.

Cooney restored Ulster’s seven-point lead on 32 minutes with a simple penalty from in front of the posts after Alun Wyn Jones was caught offside at the breakdown following good work from the visiting pack.

Cooney missed a long-range penalty on 38 minutes after tight head prop Marty Moore won a penalty at the scrum.

Myler reduced Ulster’s lead to 10-6 at the interval as he landed a long-range penalty with the final kick of the first half after Henderson pulled Ospreys scrum-half Rhys Webb back.

Ulster got their second try on 48 minutes. Eric O’Sullivan made a strong carry, Rob Lyttle injected pace into the move carrying deep into the 22, Henderson drove close to the line before South African No8 Coetzee charged over from close range, with Cooney converting.

Myler reduced Ulster’s lead to eight points with his third penalty on 56 minutes after Coetzee played the ball in an offside position.

Cooney was off target with a long-range penalty on 58 minutes after Ospreys replacement hooker Dewi Lake failed to roll away from the tackle.

Ulster wasted another good opportunity three minutes later, they drove within the shadow of the Ospreys posts but lock Kieran Treadwell went off his feet at the tackle conceding a penalty.

Myler reduced Ulster’s lead to five points with his fourth penalty on 65 minutes after Ulster tight head prop Marty Moore was punished at the scrum.

Ulster sealed their victory on 73 minutes.

From a scrum on half-way Coetzee picked off the back and made the hard yards, Cooney fed centre James Hume who offloaded to Rob Lyttle and the winger blazed through a gap and had his scrum-half on his shoulder.

Cooney had a enough pace and used the wet turf to slide over. He converted his own try.

Henderson was dismissed for making contact with his shoulder to the head of Ospreys full back Dan Evans.

Ospreys:

D Evans, M Protheroe, O Watkin, K Williams, L Morgan, S Myler, R Webb, N Smith, S Parry, T Botha, A Beard, A Wyn Jones, O Cracknell, J Tipuric, M Morris.

Replacements: D Lake for Parry 50 mins, R Jones for Smith 54 mins, M Fia for Botha 54 mins , B Davies, D Lydiate for Cracknell 50 mins, H Morgan for Webb 54 mins, J Thomas, T Thomas-Wheeler for Williams 72 mins

Ulster:

J Stockdale, M Faddes, J Hume, S Moore, R Lyttle, I Madigan, J Cooney, J McGrath, R Herring, M Moore, A O’Connor, I Henderson, Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, M Coetzee.

Replacements: A McBurney for Herring 71 mins, E O’Sullivan for McGrath 45 mins, G Milasinovich for M Moore 66 mins, K Treadwell for O’Connor 59 mins, G Jones for Matty Rea 59 mins, D Shanahan, L Ludik for Faddes 71 mins, S Reidy for Marcus Rea 55 mins

Referee: M Adamson (SRU).

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor