Ulster Rugby vs Scarlets

A debatable high tackle from Ludik gave Clermont a much-needed set-piece, but their nightmarish evening continued when John Ulugia’s crooked put-in brought their possession once again to a premature end. Another marginal call – this time Addison with a high challenge on second row Paul Jedrasiak – went unpunished, but Clermont soon opened their account courtesy of a Greig Laidlaw penalty just after the half- hour. Cooney cancelled out his opposite number’s three points within moments when Jedrasiak’s replacement Thibault Lanen was pinged for failing to roll away, and the hosts closed out the half, further frustrating the Frenchmen in midfield. Five minutes of ineffectual possession at the start of the second period pushed Clermont to replace their entire front row as well as Abendanon and out-half Jake McIntyre – regular first choice Camille Lopez taking over at ten – but the changes made no difference to their fortunes, as a 55th minute penalty from Laidlaw sailed left of the posts. However, the visitors began to establish a foothold in the game just before the hour, and when the next penalty came, this time for offside, the Scot dispatched his kick to bring his side back to within seven points.

Perhaps beginning to rue their failure to kill the game off in such a dominant first half, Ulster stepped up a gear from the restart, with Cooney once again the lynch-pin as he crafted himself a try not dissimilar to his score last week in Bath, picking up at the back of a maul and chipping Raka before dribbling over the line and touching down. Cooney’s conversion missed, but with Clermont now five points adrift of even a losing bonus point, the Frenchmen forced their way into the Ulster ‘22’ for the very first time on 66 minutes, eventually forcing a penalty try four minutes later after three successive scrum infringements from the Ulster front row. Now nursing a slight five-point lead, Ulster judiciously forced play well into the Clermont half, eating up a good seven minutes until another penalty gave Clermont their final shot at glory. Ulster just failed to snatch the turnover at the lineout as the clock tipped into red, but a final knock-on under pressure from Apisai Naqalevu sent his side home with the solitary bonus point.

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