Ulster 41 Edinburgh 17: Ulster made off with maximum points from this high scoring encounter which saw them scoring five tries to hit the ground running after the autumn break.
Craig Gilroy caught the eye with two tries on his return from injury while outhalf James McKinney, standing in for Paddy Jackson, scored 21 points and kicked all his seven shots at goal.
And this was no mean feat after they lost Nick Williams to injury before the game and then saw Iain Henderson, Luke Marshall, Lewis Stevenson and Darren Cave all depart with knocks during the clash which may well make next week’s game at Zebre somewhat interesting.
The pace of Ulster’s attacking and the power of their scrum ensured that the game was pretty much over by half-time with replacements Dan Tuohy, Ricky Andrew and Peter Nelson all making telling contributions as Edinburgh made a late surge and ended up with three tries of their own.
Ulster made the worst possible start when Edinburgh wheeled a scrum, following a Michael Allen knock-on after being clattered while trying to field a high kick, and scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne drew the cover and fed Cornell du Preez.
The South African smashed his way through Allen and beat Craig Gilroy to make the right corner for a 14th minute score. Harry Leonard failed to convert but Ulster were stung into action and five minutes later, even though they had now lost Henderson to injury, McKinney slotted a penalty off a big scrum from the home side.
Ulster struck back with his replacement Ricky Andrew launching a counter which ultimately saw them win a lineout in Edinburgh’s corner and spin it left with Cave’s lovely pass picking out Craig Gilroy who spun through to touchdown on his return to action.
McKinney then added a great conversion from the touchline and Ulster were five in front after 27 minutes which soon became 12 after Cave’s break saw Paul Marshall hack through to score at the posts which allowed McKinney to easily convert.
And right on half-time, McKinney made it 20-5 to the home side after Ulster won another scrum penalty. The second half saw Lewis Stevenson depart with a bang but Ulster held firm in the face of a renewed wave of Edinburgh pressure with Luke Marshall putting in one try-saving tackle.
The game only erupted into life on the hour mark after Izak van der Westhuizen was yellow carded for pulling down an Ulster driving maul and immediately afterwards Diack drove over beside the posts to allow McKinney again add the extras.
He did so again two minutes later when the bonus point was secured by Gilroy from an intercept though the sight of Luke Marshall then being helped from the field took some of the gloss off the score.
However, Ulster again hit back with McKinney then scoring and converting his own 69th minute effort.
Edinburgh, though, worked Dougie Fife over in the 72nd minute which made it 41-10 and sub Grayson Hart got another in the 74th minute which Leonard converted.
ULSTER: C Gilroy; A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, M Allen; J McKinney, P Marshall; C Black, R Herring, J Afoa; L Stevenson, I Henderson; R Diack (capt), S Doyle, R Wilson. Replacements: D Tuohy for Henderson (15mins), R Andrew for Allen (21mins), M McComish for Stevenson (48mins), T Court for Black (60mins), N Annett for Herring (61mins), P Nelson for L Marshall, R Lutton for J Afoa (both 63mins), D Shanahan for P Marshall (70mins), P Marshall for D Cave (76 mins).
EDINBURGH: G Tonks; D Fife, J Dominguez, B Atiga, J Cuthbert; H Leonard, S Hidalgo-Clyne; W Blaauw, A Lutui, WP Nel; O Atkins, I van der Westhuizen; T Leonardi, R Grant (capt), C Du Preez. Replacements: R Fennie for Leonardi (half-time), G Hart for Hidalgo-Clyne (61mins), T Brown for Cuthbert , S Beard for Atiga (both 64mins) , G Cross for Nel (71mins).
Referee: N Hennessey (WRU).
