RICHIE MURPHY’S GAMBLE on heavily rotating his side for the second round of pool matches in the EPCR Challenge Cup almost worked perfectly until two late yellow cards saw Ulster lose a grip on proceedings.
Having turned an early 12-point lead for Cardiff into a 14-12 interval advantage, two Werner Kok corner tries put the Ulstermen in the driving seat and seemingly on their way into the playoff rounds in the wake of their 61-7 drubbing of Racing 92 in their opening game.
But when Harry Sheridan decided he would confront James Botham on the sideline after the home flanker had run into an Ulster play it ended with both of them seeing yellow after a full throttle shoving and pushing match.
That came shortly after Cardiff had got their tails up with a Danny Southworth try at the posts that Callum Sheedy converted to bring them back to within a single score. Then to make matters worse for the visitors Ben Carson went to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock on to reduce Ulster to 13 men.
Cardiff kicked to the corner and flanker Dan Thomas rumbled over from a driving lineout. Sheedy levelled with his conversion to level the scores and the race was on for a winning score.
It came when both teams were back up to full strength and the Cardiff pack went for an almighty shove at a scrum in the 80th minute. The ploy worked as the Ulster scrum went up and then back.
French referee Evan Urruzmendi blew for a penalty and Sheedy stepped up to win the game with the final kick of the match from 35 metres out.
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Tries from lock George Nott and wing Tom Bowen, the first converted by Leigh Halfpenny playing his first game for the Cardiff side since 18 January 2014, gave Cardiff their early lead, but the second quarter belonged almost exclusively to Ulster.
Skipper Tom Stewart started the fightback with an impeccable driving lineout try from the five metre line and then James Hume said, ‘Thank you very much’ to Sheedy for tipping the ball into his hands on half-way as the home outside half made a second grab at catching a tipped on pass.
The Ulster centre had no one in front of him and had enough pace to reach the line and give Jake Flannery an easy shot to pick up his second conversion. That made it 14-12 to the visitors at the break.
Callum Sheedy. Mike Jones / INPHO
Mike Jones / INPHO / INPHO
The momentum had completely swung in favour of Ulster and it continued in that vein up to the hour mark. Some power play up front, and precision passing behind, earned two tries for Blitzboks wing Kok and another Flannery conversion took the gap out to 14 points in the 54th minute.
Cardiff finally woke up to what was happening to them, and that they were staring at their first home defeat of the season, as the clock ticked through the hour mark. They closed the gap with those tries from Southworth and Thomas to leave Sheedy with the glory shot.
Cardiff scorers:
Tries: G Nott (7), T Bowen (13), D Southworth (65)
Cons: L Halfpenny (14), C Sheedy (66, 72)
Pen: C Sheedy (80)
Ulster scorers:
Tries: T Stewart (22), J Hume (40), W Kok (43, 54)
Cons: J Flannery 34 (23, 41, 44)
CARDIFF RUGBY: L Halfpenny (C Winnett 58); J Adams, H Millard, B Thomas, T Bowen (J Beetham 67); C Sheedy, A Davies (E Bevan 76); R Barratt (D Southworth 52), D Hughes (E Lloyd 41), K Assiratti (S Wainwright 32), G Nott (J McNally 52), R Thornton, J Botham, D Thomas (L de la Rua 76), A Lawrence (captain).
ULSTER: S Moore (B McNamara 17-22); W Kok, J Hume, B Carson, Z Ward; J Flannery (J Humphreys 77), C McKee (D Shanahan 68); C Reid (A Bell 50), T Stewart (captain, J Andrew 61), T O’Toole (R McGuire 61), H Sheridan, C Irvine (C Izuchukwu 50), D McCann, S Reffell (J Augustus 50), B Ward.
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Late yellow cards prove costly as Ulster lose to Cardiff at the death
Cardiff Rugby 29
Ulster 26
RICHIE MURPHY’S GAMBLE on heavily rotating his side for the second round of pool matches in the EPCR Challenge Cup almost worked perfectly until two late yellow cards saw Ulster lose a grip on proceedings.
Having turned an early 12-point lead for Cardiff into a 14-12 interval advantage, two Werner Kok corner tries put the Ulstermen in the driving seat and seemingly on their way into the playoff rounds in the wake of their 61-7 drubbing of Racing 92 in their opening game.
But when Harry Sheridan decided he would confront James Botham on the sideline after the home flanker had run into an Ulster play it ended with both of them seeing yellow after a full throttle shoving and pushing match.
That came shortly after Cardiff had got their tails up with a Danny Southworth try at the posts that Callum Sheedy converted to bring them back to within a single score. Then to make matters worse for the visitors Ben Carson went to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock on to reduce Ulster to 13 men.
Cardiff kicked to the corner and flanker Dan Thomas rumbled over from a driving lineout. Sheedy levelled with his conversion to level the scores and the race was on for a winning score.
It came when both teams were back up to full strength and the Cardiff pack went for an almighty shove at a scrum in the 80th minute. The ploy worked as the Ulster scrum went up and then back.
French referee Evan Urruzmendi blew for a penalty and Sheedy stepped up to win the game with the final kick of the match from 35 metres out.
Tries from lock George Nott and wing Tom Bowen, the first converted by Leigh Halfpenny playing his first game for the Cardiff side since 18 January 2014, gave Cardiff their early lead, but the second quarter belonged almost exclusively to Ulster.
Skipper Tom Stewart started the fightback with an impeccable driving lineout try from the five metre line and then James Hume said, ‘Thank you very much’ to Sheedy for tipping the ball into his hands on half-way as the home outside half made a second grab at catching a tipped on pass.
The Ulster centre had no one in front of him and had enough pace to reach the line and give Jake Flannery an easy shot to pick up his second conversion. That made it 14-12 to the visitors at the break.
The momentum had completely swung in favour of Ulster and it continued in that vein up to the hour mark. Some power play up front, and precision passing behind, earned two tries for Blitzboks wing Kok and another Flannery conversion took the gap out to 14 points in the 54th minute.
Cardiff finally woke up to what was happening to them, and that they were staring at their first home defeat of the season, as the clock ticked through the hour mark. They closed the gap with those tries from Southworth and Thomas to leave Sheedy with the glory shot.
Cardiff scorers:
Tries: G Nott (7), T Bowen (13), D Southworth (65)
Cons: L Halfpenny (14), C Sheedy (66, 72)
Pen: C Sheedy (80)
Ulster scorers:
Tries: T Stewart (22), J Hume (40), W Kok (43, 54)
Cons: J Flannery 34 (23, 41, 44)
CARDIFF RUGBY: L Halfpenny (C Winnett 58); J Adams, H Millard, B Thomas, T Bowen (J Beetham 67); C Sheedy, A Davies (E Bevan 76); R Barratt (D Southworth 52), D Hughes (E Lloyd 41), K Assiratti (S Wainwright 32), G Nott (J McNally 52), R Thornton, J Botham, D Thomas (L de la Rua 76), A Lawrence (captain).
ULSTER: S Moore (B McNamara 17-22); W Kok, J Hume, B Carson, Z Ward; J Flannery (J Humphreys 77), C McKee (D Shanahan 68); C Reid (A Bell 50), T Stewart (captain, J Andrew 61), T O’Toole (R McGuire 61), H Sheridan, C Irvine (C Izuchukwu 50), D McCann, S Reffell (J Augustus 50), B Ward.
Referee: Evan Urruzmendi (France).
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Challenge Cup Match Report Rugby