Ulster Rugby v Cardiff Blues

ULSTERA CELTICCUPREVIEW

Ulster A Head Coach, Kieran Campbell commented on the squad’s progression throughout the Celtic Cup as a positive: “The guys put themselves in a positive learning experience by building good performances and wins. Learning to deal with pressure and the nature of delivering in professional sport week in, week out will hold them in good stead when they get into the senior squad with Dan McFarland hopefully. “We’ve got a little way to go still, but these guys have done themselves a lot of good and can be proud of their performance throughout the campaign.”

Under the guidance of coaches Kieran Campbell and Willie Anderson, the young Ulster A team made a fantastic start to this season’s campaign with a last-gasp victory over last year’s finalists, Scarlets. They backed up that two wins over Cardiff Blues and Connacht to make it three on the bounce and a maximum 15 points in the bank. The first defeat came in Round 4 away to defending champions Leinster. However, the Ulster men did come away with a losing try bonus point. Ulster continued to perform well, winning another two games against the Dragons and Ospreys. Their next game was against a strong Munster side at Shaw’s Bridge, and despite a good opening from Ulster, the visitors responded strongly, with the game finishing 12-31. Despite the loss, Ulster A finished in second place, setting them up for the final on 13 October at Energia Park against Leinster A. The final saw a hugely spirited performance from Ulster. The final scoreline of 31-10 to Leinster A bore little reflection of a very competitive game where Ulster dominated large periods of possession and territory but were ultimately unable to convert this into points. Ulster’s only try came in the first half from Graham Curtis, set up by an Ethan McIlroy break, converted by fly half, Bruce Houston. Houston also made a successful penalty kick in the first half. That is how Ulster’s scoreline remained, while the hosts dotted down for four unanswered tries in spite of the intense pressure from the men in white.

ULSTER A’S CELTIC CUP 2019/20 RESULTS SCARLETS 32 ULSTER A 35 Saturday 24th August at Llandovery RFC ULSTER A 32 CARDIFF BLUES 5 Saturday 31st August at Malone RFC ULSTER A 33 CONNACHT 13 Friday 6th September at Ballymena RFC LEINSTER 55 ULSTER A 24 Saturday 14th September, at Energia Park, Donnybrook DRAGONS 31 ULSTER A 43 Saturday 21st September at Ystrad Mynach ULSTER A 19 OSPREYS 3 Friday 27th September at Malone RFC ULSTER A 12 MUNSTER 31 Friday 4th October at Shaw’s Bridge LEINSTER A 31 ULSTER A 10 Saturday 12th October at Energia Park, Donnybrook

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