Ulster Beat Emirates Lions 26-10 in Fantastic Showing Marred by Injury.

Timoney goes over the whitewash after a training ground move. Herring throws directly to Warwick at the front who pops it on to Timoney. He goes through a gap and lands over for an easy 5 points. Doak misses the following conversation – his first miss off the tee this season.

Lions stretch Ulster’s defence, going wide out the wing and scoring past a soft shoulder, converting and taking the lead.

Hume goes over after strong forward pressure and wide pass by Burns - Hume and Gilroy out beyond the Lions, so no defence there to stop him. The conversation is nailed by Doak, adding the 2.

The Lions end the half with three points, slotting the penalty after Herring is caught out trying for the turnover in the ruck too late.

Matty Rea adds his name to the score sheet with the support of Alan O’Connor and David McCann on each shoulder, just about getting over the line. Doak converts comfortably from a forgiving angle.

In the last quarter, off a strong line-out, Timoney gets the ball a few meters from a ruck and scores a try with plenty of resistance. 4 defenders make contact with Timoney in his bid for the line but that isn’t enough to stop him from his second try, making it 5 this season.

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No doubt this was a great game from Ulster although as Mike Lowry said after the game they’re still not playing at their best. However, it was marred in part by the brutal luck of Will Addison. After an extended injury period, “fairly pioneering” back surgery to quote the man himself, rehab and finally getting back to playing, he’s now out again with a leg fracture. He had surgery on Sunday to stabilise the fracture, according the Ulster Rugby, which will hopefully speed up the process. I’m sure every Ulster and many Ireland fans are chomping at the back to get him healthy and back to top form. As I’ve mulled over his performance at the start of the season and his injury, I’ve often thought how good he could be if he was given time to get back in the swing of things and get comfortable. I very much doubt his opening few games of the season after lengthy injury were his peak performance, so how good could he be after a run of 10, 15, 20 games? Since 2018 he’s only had the chance to rack up 23 caps with Ulster. Furthermore, he’s only had the chance for 5 caps with Ireland; I have no doubt with full fitness that number would be on the increase. Let’s hope after this spell of injury and recovery Addison can keep fit and show the Ulster and Ireland crowd what he can do.

Onto a few more positive takeaways from the game:

Rob Herring, in his 201st appearance for Ulster, in my humble opinion, looked as good as ever. He made strong runs; a few thumping tackles and never seemed to slow down from the moment he ran on the pitch until Roberts replaced him. Herring seems to be finding another gear in his performances, even more so challenging for that Irish number 2 jersey he’s become so acquainted with as of the last few years.

Alan O’Connor similarly seems to be kicking into gear this season, at one point breaking the defensive line and darting away like a number 10. O’Connor, as I’ve said before (somewhere) is an unsung hero on the pitch. He does the gritty, unexciting work that leads to the spectacular finishes. The backs get the ball with space to work with because O’Connor challenges at the breakdown, he slows the opposition, and he draws defenders in. It isn’t flashy but it’s crucial and he does it for 80 minutes week in, week out.

I’m a huge Ulster fan, but I won’t hide when I haven’t been blown away by a player. The last few weeks David McCann has played at number 8 I think he’s played well but he hasn’t bowled me over like some of the other young players have but against the Lions, I felt this opinion change. McCann was dynamic on the ball, he carried hard and with purpose, and he was brutal in defence. It must take some time to get adjusted to playing at pro level so consistently and I think he has adjusted. McCann at 8 and Timoney at 7 was a tough decision for me personally to understand, but I get it. Timoney seems to get more freedom from the flank and the massive McCann can really do the job at 8. As he becomes more and more comfortable and finds his form each week I can see McCann becoming a pivotal player who will only be made better by the arrival of Vermeulen.

Ulster finish the night with another bonus point win - that's 4 bonus points from 4 games putting them firmly at the number 1 spot in the URC. Not bad for a team riddled with injury early in the season.

A really solid performance, they're slowly improving each week and getting the job done without entirely showing their hand.