No bonus point but victory over Southern Kings sends Ulster top

Ulster made it three wins from three matches in Guinness PRO14 Conference B as they beat Southern Kings 28-7 in Port Elizabeth.

No bonus point but victory over Southern Kings sends Ulster top

By Dylan King

Ulster made it three wins from three matches in Guinness PRO14 Conference B as they beat Southern Kings 28-7 in Port Elizabeth.

The visitors were 9-0 up at half-time after three penalties from John Cooney.

Southern Kings brought the deficit down to two points shortly after the break when Mike Willemse scored a try that was converted by Masixole Banda, before Ulster replied with three tries of their own.

Marcell Coetzee went over after some concerted pressure from Ulster for the game’s first try, Billy Burne adding the extras.

Angus Kernohan scored in the corner to extend the Irish province’s lead, with Peter Nelson adding the conversion.

Shanahan and Stuart McCloskey then combined to set up Angus Curtis for a third Ulster try.

Ulster miss out on a bonus point but still move top of Conference B, a point clear of second-placed Leinster, while Southern Kings remain bottom after their third loss.

The results also means no South African team have won a PRO14 game this season, with the Cheetahs losing 52-24 to the Glasgow Warriors in Bloemfontein.

Glasgow were behind at the break but returned with a five-try blitz in the second 40 minutes to claim a 52-24 triumph.

The Scots will remain on South African soil as they prepare for next Saturday’s showdown with Southern Kings and head coach Dave Rennie believes that time together will prove useful.

It was important that we got a result and getting five points was a bonus.

“It’s the good thing about being away, we spend a lot of time together and the group gets a little tighter.”

Scorers for Southern Kings: Tries: Willemse. Cons: M. Banda.

Scorers for Ulster: Tries: Coetzee, Kernohan, Curtis. Cons: Burns, Nelson. Pens: Cooney 3.

Southern Kings: Botha, Penxe, H. Klaasen, B. Klaasen, Basson, M. Banda, Masimla, Ferreira, Willemse, Pupuma, de Wee, Oelofse, de Wit, Burger, Ntsila.

Replacements: du Toit for B. Klaasen (63), Van Rooyen for Masimla (49), Vos for Ferreira (63), van Rooyen for Willemse (73), Forwood for Pupuma (52), L. Mtyanda for de Wee (73), Lerm for de Wit (63).

Not Used: Dukisa.

Sin Bin: Burger (20).

Ulster: Nelson, Gilroy, Cave, McCloskey, Speight, Burns, Cooney, Warwick, Herring, O’Toole, O’Connor, Treadwell, Coetzee, Reidy, Timoney.

Replacements: Kernohan for Cave (64), Curtis for Burns (68), Shanahan for Cooney (33), O’Sullivan for Warwick (49), McBurney for Herring (68), Herbst for O’Toole (46), Deysel for Treadwell (75), Rea for Timoney (57).

Ref: Sam Grove-White (SRU).

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