It was a disappointing Saturday evening for the Hollywoodbets Sharks who went down 34-26 to Ulster in a highly competitive fourth round Vodacom United Rugby Championship match at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
Ulster retained their unbeaten record in the tournament, one of just three sides with a 100% record as they started the game strongly and managed to find a way to win despite being comprehensively humbled at scrum-time.
A fifth minute try for Ulster came somewhat against the run of early play, but their attack was effective and deadly as they showed their prowess to close out an effort that started in their half.
A penalty 10 minutes later pushed Ulster into a 10-nil lead and then former Blitzbok and Hollywoodbets Sharks’ wing Werner Kok rounded the defence out wide to score Ulster’s second try for a 17-nil lead early in the second quarter.
But Ulster’s retreating scrum that conceded three consecutive penalties against the powerful home team’s set-piece eventually took its toll, a penalty kicked to touch before the forwards, and a few backs, got stuck in and Siya Kolisi broke to score the opening try to cut the lead to 17-5 after 32 minutes.
A second penalty for Ulster saw them extend their lead a further three points just before half-time and that’s how the first half ended, with the visitors leading 20-5 defending against a concerted effort from the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
The scrum dominance continued into the second half and Ulster finally paid the price for their retreating effort, a succession of penalties setting up an attacking scrum in front of the posts with the ball going wide to Makazole Mapimpi whose hard work all game paid off as he rounded the defence to score the second try with Siya Masuku converting to cut the deficit to eight points with half an hour remaining.
Sadly Mapimpi joined Vincent Koch on the sidelines after the pair had both been called for tip-tackles and when a promising attack broke down, Ulster struck with their third try showing how dangerous counter-attack can be, taking a 27-12 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
The scrum dominance from the home side continued and Ulster’s retreating pack continued to haemorrhage penalties, finally paying the price with a penalty try and a yellow card, the seven-pointer cutting the lead to eight points.
Unfortunately, the bonus point try came for the visitors and with that, setting themselves up for an unassailable position with a quarter hour remaining.
Another trademark run from Andre Esterhuizen saw the big centre bruise his way over for the bonus point try in the final 10 minutes, making it an eight point game, but there was to be no further score.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks fought bravely, but Ulster’s defence managed to hold firm in the face of severe pressure, and they held out in the dying moments to deny the Durban side a second bonus point.