Ulster 37–14 Bath: Bath rallies from behind to win the pool opener with bonus points.
In the highly anticipated opening match of Pool 2 of the Investec Champions Cup at the Rec, Bath pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat Ulster and earn a bonus point.
Joe Cokanasiga’s opening try was cancelled out by tries from Billy Burns and Nathan Doak, leaving Ulster ahead 14–8 at the half.
However, Bath controlled the second half and took the lead again thanks to a converted goal by Tom Dunn.
Following Matty Rea’s sin-binning, Matt Gallagher, Thomas Du Toit, and Cokanasiga attempted to salve Ulster’s wounds.
Burns and Doak’s goals in the final four minutes of the first half gave Ulster a profitable finish, but Bath deserved the win after dominating the second half and keeping the Irish province scoreless.
It is Ulster’s third straight loss in all competitions. Next week, they host Racing 92 in Belfast for their second pool match, while Bath travels to Cardiff, who were humiliated by Toulouse on Saturday.
After losing to Glasgow and Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship, Ulster’s head coach, Dan McFarland, criticized his team’s training methods prior to the match.
And early on here, the Irish province was punished for their inaccuracy; Stewart Moore missed an opportunity to send Robert Baloucoune clear, and Nick Timoney did the same with Jacob Stockdale in space on the left.
However, despite early line-out problems, Bath found their rhythm when Cokanasiga scored in the corner following a five-meter scrum won by the home team and a brilliant pass from Spencer to the large winger.
The quick second Bath try was thwarted by Baloucoune, who raced back to dot down before Spencer could reach his own kick, which Ulster was grateful to see.
Bath’s lead was increased by a penalty kick from Spencer, but after overcoming their most challenging phase of the half, Ulster came alive when Ollie Lawrence kicked a clearance right into Burns, enabling the Ulster fly-half to gather and touch down.
Although Ulster’s first score may have been influenced by luck, their second try came from some amazing rugby played by Stuart McCloskey, James Hume, and Baloucoune, who together knocked out Doak for the 21-year-old’ssecond try in a European match.
Sadly, Ulster were unable to sustain their momentum as Bath swiftly took the lead again in the second half, with Dunn diving over following a forceful driving maul from a line-out.
Line-ups
Bath’s starting lineup is as follows: Gallagher, Russell, Spencer (captain); Cokanasiga, Redpath, Lawrence, Muir; Obano, Dunn, Stuart, Stooke, Ewels, Reid, Underhill, Barbeary.
Annett, Schoeman, Du Toit, Van Velze, Coetzee, Schreuder, Bailey, and Butt were the replacements.
Ulster: Stewart, Kitshoff, O’Toole, O’Connor, Henderson (captain), Ewers, Timoney, McNabney; S Moore, Baloucoune, Hume, McCloskey, Stockdale, Burns, Doak.
Herring, Warwick, M. Moore, Treadwell, Rea, Cooney, Flannery, Lowry are the replacements.
Pierre Brousset (Fra) is the referee.
Matty Rea, the sin-bin (65)
