RUGBY PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY Ulster 14 Bath 26:AS A spectacle it was the usual fare for a pre-season friendly, with substitutions galore and little continuity, but despite the defeat it at least got Ulster – without their Ireland contingent, bar Tom Court – back playing and looking at new combinations and plays ahead of the serious stuff.
Even with Ian Humphreys missing two fairly straightforward penalties, Ulster opened the scoring thanks to Matt McCrea’s interception which saw the winger run in from just outside his own 22 to underneath the posts. Humphreys slotted over the extras.
However, Ulster failed to score again in the half and, despite a great try-saving tackle by Ian Whitten on Michael Claassens on Ulster’s line, Bath still ended the half with a burst of scoring.
With Tim Barker binned as Bath hammered away on Ulster’s line, the visitors made the extra man count when Ross Batty got over in the left corner which then saw Sam Vesty land a great conversion to tie the scores. In added time, substitute Matt Banahan powered his way through Robbie Diack and Ian Porter to make the conversion a formality for Vesty and give Bath a 14-7 half-time lead.
Bath made a rash of substitutions for the second half which disrupted the continuity of the game, as did Ulster emptying their bench alongside a long stoppage due to an neck injury to prop Paddy McCallister. But Bath again came through in better shape and Olly Barkley got over four minutes after the hour mark and converted his own score to put 14 points between the sides.
Substitute Jack Cuthbert put Bath further out of sight with an unconverted try before Ulster hit back with a try from Pedrie Wannenburg on his debut which Humphreys converted.
ULSTER: J Smith; M McCrea, D Cave, I Whitten, T Seymour; I Humphreys, P Marshall; P McAllister, N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, T Barker, J Muller (capt); P Wannenburg, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: I Porter for P Marshall 21 mins; N O'Connor for Smith; N McComb for J Muller half-time; A Macklin for D Fitzpatrick and A Kyriacou for N Brady 62 mins; T Court for P McAllister 62 mins; TJ Anderson for W Faloon, N Spence for T Seymour both 67 mins.
BATH: N Abendanon; M Carraro, S Hape, O Barkley, T Biggs, S Vesty, M Claassens; D Flatman, R Batty, D Bell, S Hooper, D Grewcock, S Taylor, L Moody, L Watson (capt). Replacements: M Banahan for S Hape 21 mins; B Skirving for S Hooper 33 mins; L Mears for D Flatman, N Catt for R Batty, D Wilson for D Bell, A Beattie for S Taylor, M McMillan for M Claassens, J Boussuge for M Carraro, (all half-time); J Ovens for L Moody 48 mins; J Cuthbert for N Abendanon 53 mins; S Hooper for D Grewcock 56 mins.
Referee: D Philips(Ulster).
