Ulster were punished for woeful indiscipline during the second half as they suffered a 34-19 United Rugby Championship defeat against Benetton at Stadio di Monigo.
The visitors had three players – David McCann, Nick Timoney and Stewart Moore – yellow-carded in a damaging 20-minute spell, while they also saw a try disallowed following foul play by prop Tom O’Toole.
Benetton fought back from a 19-10 deficit to score 24 unanswered points, and Ulster could have few complaints about the outcome.
Scrum-half Nathan Doak gave them a flying start through a third-minute try that he also converted, and Mike Lowry then claimed an interception score – again converted by Doak – after former Bath back Matt Gallagher touched down for Benetton.
Tomas Albornoz converted and kicked a penalty, before Jacob Stockdale pounced for Ulster’s third try, but Benetton responded just before the interval when Ignacio Mendy crossed and Albornoz again converted.
Ulster then lost their way through a flurry of sin-binnings either side of an Albornoz penalty, and Benetton secured victory through replacement prop Mirco Spagnolo’s 65th-minute touchdown before Alessandro Izekor added a bonus-point try and Albornoz slotted two more conversions.
