Ulster beat Edinburgh to secure second place in URC table
Ulster secured a second-place finish in the BKT United Rugby Championship after tries from Jacob Stockdale, John Cooney and Nick Timoney helped them defeat Edinburgh 28-14 at the Kingspan Stadium.
Player of the match Cooney scored 18 of Ulster’s total from two conversions and a penalty as well as his second-half try.
The win guarantees the Irish province a home semi-final should they win their URC quarter-final which will also be in Belfast.
The visitors were brighter from the outset and after Duan van der Merwe’s touch let him down after hacking on over the Ulster line, Darcy Graham scored for Edinburgh after seven minutes when the Scots ran back a dropped high kick by Ulster, Emiliano Boffelli added the conversion.
Then on 25 minutes, Ulster struck back with a stunning try. From a lineout, the Irish province put the ball through the hands and after Craig Gilroy had burst through the middle, Stockdale and Rob Baloucoune combined before Baloucoune’s return pass put Stockdale over the line.
Cooney missed the tricky conversion and Edinburgh still led 7-5 until he bisected the posts with a 37th-minute penalty to put the hosts ahead for the first time.
Cooney then stretched this to 11-7 with the clock in red with another penalty.
The second half was barely a minute old when Cooney intercepted Blair Kinghorn’s pass to run in from just inside his own half. He converted his own score and Ulster now led 18-7.
That became 25-7 after 65 minutes when Nick Timoney barrelled over from close to the Edinburgh line following a yellow card being shown to Glen Young in the previous phase. Cooney slotted the straightforward conversion to take his points haul to 15.
Edinburgh’s Charlie Savala then had a score ruled out just before WP Nel crashed over for a converted try.
However, Cooney closed business for the evening with a 78th-minute penalty.
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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