ULSTER HAVE THEIR first attacking entry into the Connacht 22 and it’s a chance to take the lead at home in Belfast.

Marcus Rea has just won a breakdown turnover, so Richie Murphy’s men go on the attack and look for the opening score.

Bundee Aki and Connacht say no.

First, the Ireland international centre dips in low to bring down opposite number Ben Carson after he slips through Finlay Bealham’s effort.

Aki is straight back onto his feet and back into the defensive line.

His work has only just begun.

Two phases later, Aki has folded to the other side of the breakdown and as he looks up, he spots that Angus Bell – one of Ulster’s key carriers – is set up to take the ball on next.

This is Aki’s moment to grab momentum for Connacht.

He doesn’t miss.

Aki doesn’t actually come forward off the line here, instead using the split seconds he has before contact with Bell to get himself into the most powerful hitting position possible.

Bell doesn’t look to use his footwork. Like Aki, he wants to dominate a front-on collision.

Bell comes off second best as Aki lands an explosive right shoulder into him, with Connacht hooker Dave Heffernan joining to seal the deal.

Aki’s dominant tackle means he ends up on top of Bell on the ground.

That not only ensures a slower recycle for Ulster, but also allows Aki to get into Bell’s face.

“What’s up? What’s up? What’s up, eh?” roars Aki at Bell, as picked up on the ref mic. 

Bell gets up smiling, but he knows he has lost this battle.

Connacht are close to a breakdown poach on the next phase but Ulster manage to clear Bealham away just in time. 

That means more defending for Aki another two phases after his hit on Bell. This time, he makes a big tackle on Scott Wilson.

Sean Jansen has dipped in low on Ulster tighthead Wilson, who pirouettes back to the inside only to be met by Aki’s imposing right shoulder.

Again, there is belligerence in Aki’s tackle as he rocks Wilson.

Aki initially senses a chance to contest for the ball, but he’s cleared off his feet. Rather than continuing to chase a lost cause, Aki shows patience. Overall, it was a disiplined performance from Connacht as they conceded only five penalties on the night.

Another two phases later, Aki makes his fourth tackle of the set.

It’s Bell carrying for Ulster again but he’s met by a powerful tackle by Connacht lock Darragh Murray and Aki, who explodes into the collision, helping to drop Bell to ground immediately for no gain.

Ulster have really struggled for go-forward and now their attack is becoming less decisive and less connected.

20-year-old Connacht loosehead Billy Bohan produces the next moment of defensive dominance as McCann hesitates on the ball.

Bohan surges forward to earn more ground for Connacht.

And then it’s Aki who puts the finishing touch to a stirring defensive set from Stuart Lancaster’s side.

He’s set up wider in the defensive line this time, four spots out from the ruck.

Aki’s first job is to respect the front-door option, Joe Hopes [blue below], who could receive a tip-on pass from Bell.

But Aki also has to worry about Ulster out-half Jack Murphy [yellow above], who is set up to take a sweep pass from Bell out the back of Hopes.

As we see below, Aki buys himself time by holding his feet, allowing him to cover Hopes initially and then adjust out onto Murphy when Bell plays the sweep pass.

Aki doesn’t immediately close the space to Murphy, who is shaping to pass wide. 

It seems Aki is keen to stay alive to the possibility that he will need to work across the pitch if Murphy passes.

But as Murphy dummies and darts, Aki accelerates aggressively to close the space, then makes another strong contact.

Murphy’s aim is to offload in behind Jansen to Carson, but Aki’s tackle is powerful enough to dislodge the ball forward out of Murphy’s hand.

Finn Treacy collects the loose ball as Carson fails to reel it in, and Connacht clear the ball to touch beyond their own 10-metre line to end an excellent defensive effort.

Their physicality sets a tone for the remainder of the game, with Aki making five superb tackles in less than a minute. 

Ulster leave the Connacht 22 empty-handed, as they did on seven other occasions in this game.

There were glaring missed chances in there, including Carson’s knock-on with the tryline begging while Connacht were down to 14 players early in the second half, but much of it was down to the westerners’ defensive quality.

Connacht made a huge tally of 229 tackles – two more than Ireland made in their defensive statement against Scotland six days earlier – and there were lots of dominant moments, with the likes of Aki, Bohan, captain Cian Prendergast, and Josh Murphy excelling in that regard.

The big area in which Connacht needed to improve this season was their defence and while they had some bad days earlier in this campaign, their current defensive form is strong.

Lancaster has been spending lots of training time on Connacht’s defence, so keeping Zebre, Glasgow, and Scarlets to 15, 10, and 14 points scored, respectively, in their three recent wins was pleasing.

While Ulster managed 19 points on Friday night, this was Connacht’s best defensive performance of the lot. Ulster have been lethal in attack this season and they had 60% of the possession against Connacht.

They did score three tries on Friday but they were frustrated in many other instances by Connacht’s defensive power, organisation, and work rate. Those aren’t traits that have been consistently associated with Connacht in recent seasons, with their defensive shortcomings often undoing high-quality attacking work.

Add in the strong scrum and lineout performance on Friday, and this was an encouraging performance from Connacht.

Crucially, their attack still fired clinically. They only had six entries into the Ulster 22 but scored four tries to notch a bonus-point win. There was more impressive work rate in the Connacht attack, as well as nice variety among their clever plans to break Ulster down.

Lancaster’s men are still outside the top eight of the URC but this fourth consecutive win was compelling and convincing.