Finishing their inaugural Vodacom United Rugby Championship was the sole aim of the Emirates Lions against Ulster. Unfortunately for the visitors, Ulster earned their 4th bonus point win of the 2021 United Rugby Championship with 26-10.
The first half was very even but the host did score an unanswered 14 points in the second half to win the predicted arm wrestle in style.
03:45 Nick Timoney scored Ulster's first try from 5m out. The Lions were caught asleep with a short throw-in by Ulster at a 5m lineout, allowing Timoney to walk across the Lions tryline (05-00).
16:33 Stean Pienaar scored the Lions 1st try after a great pass from EW Viljoen gave him enough space out wide to work his magic (05-07).
20:00 Both sides at this stage to establish dominance, however, Ulster maybe just having the momentum at this stage.
34:15 James Hume scored Ulster's 2nd try after camping in the red zone of the Lions for an extended period. In the end, the Lions simply ran out of defenders out wide (12-07).
40:00 EW Viljoen convert a penalty for the Lions (12-10).
40:00 An evenly contested match and although Ulster is in "control" the Lions are still very much in this match. Unfortunately for the visitors, errors in the defence did put them under pressure on several occasions.
47:29 Another Ulster forward Matty Rea scored Ulster's 3rd try. Ulster forwards slowly but surely getting the better of the Lions' (19-10).
60:00 The match has lost most of its "excitement" as the arm-wrestle up front are taking up most of the time and action. The Lions are still in the game as their forwards refuse to down without a fight.
66:40 Nick Timoney scored his 2nd try of the match as the defence of the Lions struggled with the pace and aggression of the Ulster's forward attack. This try also earned the home team a bonus point for their efforts (26-10).
Scorers:
Ulster: Tries: Nick Timoney, James Hume, Matty Rea. Conversion: Nathan Doak (3).
Emirates Lions: Try: Stean Pienaar. Conversion: EW Viljoen. Penalty: EW Viljoen.
Ulster: 15. Will Addison, 14. Craig Gilroy, 13. James Hume, 12. Stewart Moore, 11. Ethan McIlroy, 10. Billy Burns, 9. Nathan Doak, 8. David McCann, 7. Nick Timoney, 6. Matty Rea, 5. Sam Carter (c), 4. Alan O’Connor, 3. Tom O’Toole, 2. Rob Herring, 1. Andrew Warwick. Replacements: 16. Brad Roberts, 17. Eric O’Sullivan, 18. Ross Kane, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Sean Reidy, 21. David Shanahan, 22. Mike Lowry, 23. Ben Moxham.
Emirates Lions: 15. Divan Rossouw, 14. Stean Pienaar, 13. Manuel Rass, 12. Burger Odendaal (c), 11. Rabz Maxwane, 10. EW Viljoen, 9. Andre Warner, 8. Ruhan Straeuli, 7. Vincent Tshituka, 6. Sibusiso Sangweni, 5. Reinhard Nothnagel, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 3. Carlu Sadie, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16. PJ Botha, 17. Ruan Dreyer, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20. Emmanuel Tshituka, 21. Morne van den Berg, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Wandisile Simelane.