Ulster 29-36 La Rochelle: Irish province snatch bonus points as champions hold on

Brice Dulin scored La Rochelle's first try as their first-half total domination saw them have enough in hand to beat Ulster in Dublin

Ulster's stirring second half saw them snatch two bonus points as Heineken Champions Cup holders La Rochelle had enough in hand from their total early dominance to win 36-29 in Dublin.

The contentious loss of home advantage because of freezing Belfast weather this week seemed to deflate Ulster.

Brice Dulin and Antoine Hastoy tries helped put La Rochelle 29-0 ahead.

But Iain Henderson, John Cooney, Duane Vermeulen and Tom Stewart replied and Cooney's penalty left just seven in it.

Cooney's injury-time score secured Ulster a second bonus point after their four tries and the result keeps the Irish province in contention for a place in the knockout stages, despite this defeat, which followed last weekend's 39-0 hammering by Sale Sharks.

The build-up to the contest had been dominated by the frozen Kingspan Stadium pitch, with competition organisers European Professional Club Rugby [EPCR] deciding on Friday evening that the match would be switched to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

This decision left Ulster most aggrieved with the province's chief executive Jonny Petrie insisting that a final call should have left to Saturday morning with temperatures expected to rise overnight.

Belfast pitch playable insists Ulster chief

Having walked at the pitch at 10:00 GMT on Saturday, Petrie said it was clear the playing surface was now "playable", adding that another option would have been to delay the match to Sunday.

But the game duly went ahead behind-closed-doors at the Dublin venue with Ulster, according to Petrie, set to lose in the region of £700,000 because of the venue change.

Ulster coach Dan McFarland made his feelings known about the issue in his pre-match interview with BT Sport as he spoke of an "incorrect decision".

His players seemed to be distracted by the controversy in the first half as they were out-muscled and out-played by Ronan O'Gara's defending European champions.

La Rochelle's dominance in the forward exchanges allowed superb fly-half Hastoy to kick 12 points in the opening 25 minutes as under-pressure Ulster conceded a series of penalties.

With O'Gara's influence clear, the French side were content to take the points to keep the score ticking along, rather than kick to the corner as is the fashion nowadays.

Hastoy's fourth successful penalty came after Ulster skipper Henderson had been yellow carded for coming in from the side at a ruck.

John Cooney's injury-time penalty earned Ulster a second losing bonus point after he had earlier scored one of the Irish province's four tries

With Ulster down to 14, La Rochelle sensed their opportunity and Hastoy's delightful grubber kick set up former France full-back Dulin to score, as he brushed past Michael Lowry before touching down.

After Hastoy's extras were followed by his fifth successful penalty, things went from bad to worse for Ulster in injury-time as Cooney was unable to gather another kick in behind from the fly-half, who gratefully grasped the ball to score under the posts.

Ulster looked shell-shocked as they went off at the break but Henderson's 44th-minute try was the perfect riposte following their first-half horror show as Cooney added the conversion.

La Rochelle stretched out their lead to 29 once more in the 53rd minute as hooker Pierre Bourgarit gathered following a spot of pinball after a lineout on the Ulster line but Hastoy's conversion was the French club's final score as McFarland's side dominated the remainder of the contest.

Cooney's try - although he missed the conversion - cut La Rochelle's lead to 36-12 as they also had man-of-match centre Jonathan Danty yellow carded for illegal play as he attempted to stop the score.

Springbooks number eight Vermeulen showed fleetness of foot to touch down Stuart McCloskey's chip to the corner in the 63rd minute and hooker Stewart's close range finish with just over four minutes remaining secured Ulster's four-try losing bonus point and left only 10 between the teams.

Ulster forced another penalty on the edge of La Rochelle's 22 as the game entered injury-time and Cooney held to nerve to secure the second bonus point, with only seven between the teams at the finish.

Ulster: Lowry; McIlroy, Marshall, McCloskey, Lyttle; Burns, Cooney; Sutherland, Stewart, Moore; O'Connor, Carter; Henderson (capt), Timoney, Vermeulen.

Replacements: Herring, O'Sullivan, Milasinovich, Treadwell, McCann, Doak, Moore, Moxham.

La Rochelle: Dulin; Leyds, Seuteni, Danty, Boudehent; Hastoy, Kerr-Barlow; Wardi, Bourgarit, Atonio; Sazy, Skelton; Bourdeau, Tanga, Alldritt.

Replacements: Lespiauco, Paiva, Sclavi, Dillane, Boudehent, Berjon, Botia, Rhule.