Ulster's Rob Herring glad to get bonus point victory after slow start

“I think we’ll look back at that and we’ll be disappointed with the start of the game,” said Herring.

“Just through our own errors we didn’t manage to get into the game from the start and we knew that was going to be important away from home.

“That bonus point gets us up to fifth in the table and we really want to target getting into the top two and cement our place there.

“We knew that even though Treviso hadn’t been winning matches they would come out with a bit of pride to play for in front of their home crowd.

“We knew they would be tough to break down and with our own errors we just took our eye off the ball a bit in the first half but credit to the boys the way they came out in the second half.”

Herring felt Ulster defended well bar conceding a late try.

“That last try was a little bit disappointing. Throughout the game we felt pretty comfortable in defence, the boys did a lot of work on it during the week and collective we all bought into it,” Herring said.

In spite of the win the skipper knows there are plenty to work on before meeting the Dragons in Belfast on Friday night.

“I think that is where we became unstuck in the first half. We had a scrum penalty against us on halfway then we had an infringement at the maul,” he added.

“I think in the first half just due to a lack of discipline we didn’t manage it well enough.”

Ulster were able to give competitive debuts to Lorcan Dow and Jacob Stockdale, both coming off the bench late in the second half.

“I think it’s great to keep building that depth and those boys have been playing really well for the A’s and their clubs week in and week out.

“It’s good to see them get a shot and to be fair they came on and delivered. They brought energy and it is nice to have guys like that coming in.”

Ulster have a chance to make further ground on the PRO12 top two as they play their next three games at home.

“Three games now at home and we know we are going to have great support there and hopefully we can get a full haul of points from those games.”

Herring is hoping he won’t be involved against the Dragons by making the Ireland bench for the Six Nations opener against Wales.

“I enjoyed the training camp and hopefully I can get a shot,” he added.

“They will look at these games and see how it went. Rory Best is obviously going to start and there are three of us fighting it out for that second spot.

“I’m just going to keep doing what I do, keep playing the best I can and train the hardest I can and hopeful I get my shot in the Six Nations.”

p Connacht moved level on points with leaders Scarlets after a 32-17 win over the Welsh side at The Sportsground, Galway.

Munster won 16-12 at Zebre but dropped to sixth while Edinburgh stay fourth in spite of losing at Cardiff.