United Rugby Championship: Stewart try hat-trick as Ulster clinch 40-19 win over Dragons

Ulster moved into second place in the United Rugby Championship table following a bonus-point 40-19 win over Dragons at the Kingspan Stadium.

Dave McCann opened the scoring and Tom Stewart touched down twice for the hosts in the first half.

Angus O'Brien crossed for the visitors to send the sides in 19-7 at the break.

Elliot Dee and Rhodri Williams hit back with second-half tries, but further Ulster tries from Stewart, Nick Timoney and a penalty try gave Ulster the win.

Dan McFarland's side overtake the Stormers in the race for second place and home seeding in a prospective semi-final.

However, the South African side will play host to Munster and Benetton across the space of six days and will be targeting maximum points.

Ulster must rely on the Stormers dropping points on home turf and securing a home win against Edinburgh next Friday to give themselves the best possible chance to claim the sought-after second spot.

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After a nervy start from Ulster, a superb offload from Stuart McCloskey provided the assist for McCann who demonstrated his dynamism to finish in the corner. Cooney added the extras.

The visitors hit back within minutes as Taine Basham burst into the 22 and produced a skilful offload to O'Brien who touched down and added the conversion to level the sides.

The tempo of the game picked up in the second quarter as both sides struggled to gain momentum.

Ulster gained the ascendency on the 30-minute mark, however, as Stewart steered Ulster's lineout maul before crashing over from short distance in familiar fashion.

The prolific Stewart repeated the feat just before the break, setting a new URC record of 15 tries in a season and sending his side in 19-7 ahead at half-time.

Ulster started the second half in control, and it was not long before man-of-the-match Stewart claimed his hat-trick with a well-taken try in the corner.

Ulster appeared to take their foot off the pedal, giving Dragons an opportunity to fight their way back into the game.

Dee and Williams scored a quickfire double for the visitors to put their side within touching distance as Ulster were caught napping.

McFarland's men appeared to be rattled but were soon back in the ascendancy and in control, stringing phases together and dominating territory and possession.

Replacement Timoney made an immediate impact, showing his explosive pace to power over the line and touch down to give his side a more comfortable lead.

Ulster continued to pile on the pressure and a tired Dragons defence conceded a penalty try after what was judged to be a deliberate knock-on.

Despite some imperfect passages of play, Ulster leave with maximum points and will now turn their attention to their last game of the season against Edinburgh next week as the race for second place continues.

Ulster: M Lowry, C Gilroy, J Hume, S McCloskey, J Stockdale, B Burns, J Cooney; E O'Sullivan, T Stewart, T O'Toole, A O'Connor (capt), S Carter, D McCann, M Rea, D Vermeulen.

Replacements: J Andrew, A Warwick, J Toomaga Allen, K Treadwell, N Timoney, N Doak, S Moore, E McIlroy.

Dragons: J Williams, R Dyer, J Rosser, M Clark, A Hewitt, A O'Brien, R Williams (capt); R Jones, E Dee, L Brown, B Carter, M Screech, G Nott, T Basham, A Wainwright

Replacements: B Coghlan, J Reynolds, L Fairbrother, S Lonsdale, G Young, L Jones, W Reed, A Owen