Ulster 45 Aironi 7:THERE WAS never likely to be any other result though the six-try bonus point win may have been costly as the sight of Stephen Ferris being helped off the field just after the half hour mark caused more than a ripple of concern around Ravenhill.
The Ireland flanker went down with an ankle injury which is due to be scanned today and could put his involvement at Thomond Park next week in considerable doubt.
Still, Ulster can now go forward to the ominous-looking challenge of their Heineken Cup quarter-final with Munster at Thomond Park buoyed by the fact they are very much in the mix for a league play-off place.
The return of Ferris, Rory Best, and Andrew Trimble from their international commitments was always likely to lift the side towards achieving a fourth win over Aironi this campaign and their third bonus-point win over the Italians keeps things ticking along nicely.
It didn’t quite start as if Ulster were going to coast this one with Aironi finding space on the right and Sinoti Sinoti taking out several defenders before he lost the ball under the Ulster posts, but having had that early warning the home side won a lineout turnover after 12 minutes near Aironi’s line and with Best and Ferris taking the ball on Ian Humphreys had time to pick out Paddy Wallace’s run to score behind the posts.
Pienaar slotted the easy conversion and 10 minutes later he didn’t miss with a similar shot after several scrums on Aironi’s line saw the dominant Ulster set-piece mill them and give referee Neil Paterson no choice but award a penalty try.
However as Ulster prepared to hammer home their advantage they lost Ferris after appearing to go over on his ankle. The immediate aftermath – Ulster had conceded the penalty at the ruck – saw Aironi kick for the corner and with the Ulster probably still pondering about Ferris’ departure, Tito Tebaldi nipped over from a neat move at the front of the lineout. Naas Olivier’s conversion made it 14-7 to the home side.
But Ulster immediately hit back with a Pienaar penalty before the binning of Giulio Toniolatti just before half-time for handling on the ground saw Ulster kick to the corner for the lineout with Best charging over from Johann Muller’s take.
Pienaar nailed the extras and Ulster led 24-7 at the turnaround.
The bonus point duly arrived four minutes after the restart when Darren Cave was put through by Wallace to score under the posts and give Pienaar his fourth conversion to take it to 31-7 for the home side.
Ulster then had to wait until three minutes after the hour to score again – thanks to a raft of substitutions which broke up the game’s pattern – when Tom Court steamed over and Ian Humphreys landed the extras.
The sixth try arrived seven minutes from the end when Pedrie Wannenburg picked up and scored from a scrum with Humphreys again converting.
ULSTER: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), L Stevenson, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg; Replacements: Willie Faloon for S Ferris (32 mins), Nigel Brady for R Best, Paddy McAllister for J Afoa, Dan Tuohy for L Stevenson (all 54 mins), Ian Whitten for D Cave (60 mins), Paul Marshall for R Pienaar (62 mins), Adam D’Arcy for P Wallace (64 mins), Adam Macklin for T Court (72 mins).
AIRONI: G Toniolatti; S Sinoti, R Quartaroli, M Pratichetti, G Venditti; N Olivier, T Tebaldi; A De Marchi, F Ongaro, F Staibano; G Biagi, C Del Fava (capt); J Furno, N Cattina, M Bergamasco. Replacements: Gilberto Pavan for Quartaroli (46 mins), Filippo Ferrarini for Bergamasco (49 mins), Quintin Geldenhuys for Del Fava (52 mins), Salvatore Perugini for Staibano (56 mins), Antonio Denti for Ongaro (58 mins), Andrea De Marchi for De Marchi (58 mins). Yellow card: Giulio Toniolatti.
Referee: N Paterson (SRU)
