Morgan makes Ulster bow in pre-season victory
Kiwi number ten Aidan Morgan was one of two summer additions to the senior squad at Ulster
- Published
Ulster earned a hard-fought 26-19 victory over Benetton in Saturday's pre-season encounter at Kingspan Stadium.
Tries from Rory Telfer and John Andrew in the first half had Ulster on their way with second half scores from Jude Postlethwaite and David Shanahan giving the home side a victory.
Benetton also scored through Onisi Ratave, Federico Zanandrea and Nicholas Gasperini as they led with 20 minutes to go, but the Italians just fell short.
The game saw new number ten Aidan Morgan debut for the northern province, while Jack Murphy, Zac Ward and Corrie Barrett, the latter pair on trial this summer, were among others pulling on the white jersey for the first time.
In glorious conditions more reminiscent of Rimini than Belfast, it was the hosts who drew first blood after 11 minutes.
Captain Mike Lowry made a searing break through the heart of the Benetton defence, but was tackled superbly just short of the line.
However, Ulster recycled the ball and Telfer dotted down for the simplest of tries with Doak adding the extras.
Five minutes later, though, and the Italians were level. Nathan Doak’s pass from the base of a ruck inside the opposition 22 was interrupted and Ratave picked up the loose ball before sprinting 80 metres to score. Rhyno Smith made no mistake with the conversion.
On 26 minutes, hooker John Andrew restored the home side's lead after a driving maul, before Benetton gained the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Centre Zanandrea was the man to get over the line after stepping inside a number of Ulster defenders. Smith again nailed the conversion as the Italians led 14-12 at the break.
Ulster struggled to impose themselves after the restart and conceded a try after only seven minutes of the second half.
Benetton kicked a penalty into the Ulster corner and used a driving maul excellently with substitute hooker Gasperini managing to stretch over in the right-hand corner.
Just after the hour, Postlethwaite sparked an Ulster resurgence.
The big centre weaved around the Benetton defence and scored under the sticks.
Substitute fly-half James Humphreys - son of Ulster's European Cup winning captain David - converted to tie the game.
Ulster weren’t done there and seven minutes from time Dave Shanahan scored from the base of a ruck after a barnstorming run from replacement prop Scott Wilson.
Jack Murphy – son of head coach Richie – converted.
The win will give the hosts a boost before next week’s pre-season encounter away to Exeter, the final tune-up in preparation for their URC opener at home to Glasgow in a fortnight’s time.