Details

Date Time Competition Season
14 April 2023 7:35 pm United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Match Report

Stewart Continues Scoring Form To Vanquish Dragons

For the second league game in a row, a Tom Stewart hat-trick powered Ulster to a URC victory with the hooker’s extraordinary try-scoring season continuing against the Dragons in Ravenhill on Friday night.

Dave McCann opened the scoring and Stewart touched down twice for the hosts in the first half.

Angus O'Brien crossed for the visitors to send the sides in 19-7 at the break.

Elliot Dee and Rhodri Williams hit back with second-half tries, but further Ulster tries from Stewart, Nick Timoney and a penalty try gave Ulster the win.

Dan McFarland's side overtake the Stormers in the race for second place and home seeding in a prospective semi-final.

However, the South African side will play host to Munster and Benetton across the space of six days and will be targeting maximum points.

Ulster must rely on the Stormers dropping points on home turf and securing a home win against Edinburgh next Friday to give themselves the best possible chance to claim the sought-after second spot.

After a nervy start from Ulster, a superb offload from Stuart McCloskey provided the assist for McCann who demonstrated his dynamism to finish in the corner. Cooney added the extras.

The visitors hit back within minutes as Taine Basham burst into the 22 and produced a skilful offload to O'Brien who touched down and added the conversion to level the sides.

The tempo of the game picked up in the second quarter as both sides struggled to gain momentum.

Ulster gained the ascendency on the 30-minute mark, however, as Stewart steered Ulster's lineout maul before crashing over from short distance in familiar fashion.

The prolific Stewart repeated the feat just before the break, setting a new URC record of 15 tries in a season and sending his side in 19-7 ahead at half-time.

Ulster started the second half in control, and it was not long before man-of-the-match Stewart claimed his hat-trick with a well-taken try in the corner.

Ulster appeared to take their foot off the pedal, giving Dragons an opportunity to fight their way back into the game.

Dee and Williams scored a quickfire double for the visitors to put their side within touching distance as Ulster were caught napping.

McFarland's men appeared to be rattled but were soon back in the ascendancy and in control, stringing phases together and dominating territory and possession.

Replacement Timoney made an immediate impact, showing his explosive pace to power over the line and touch down to give his side a more comfortable lead.

Ulster continued to pile on the pressure and a tired Dragons defence conceded a penalty try after what was judged to be a deliberate knock-on.

Despite some imperfect passages of play, Ulster leave with maximum points and will now turn their attention to their last game of the season against Edinburgh next week as the race for second place continues.

Ulster

15Michael Lowry Full-Back
14Craig Gilroy 23 Winger
13James Hume Centre
12Stuart McCloskey 22 Centre
11Jacob Stockdale Winger
10Billy Burns 21 Fly-Half
9John Cooney Scrum-Half 9', 38', 50', 68'
1Eric O’Sullivan 17 Prop
2Tom Stewart 16 Hooker 29', 37', 48'
3Tom O’Toole 18 Prop
4Alan O’Connor Lock
5Sam Carter 19 Lock
6David McCann Flanker 7'
7Marcus Rea Flanker
8Duane Vermeulen 20 No. 8
16John Andrew 2 Hooker
17Andrew Warwick 1 Prop
18Jeff Tomaga-Allen 3
19Kieran Treadwell 5 Lock
20Nick Timoney 8 Flanker 67'
21Nathan Doak 10 Back
22Stewart Moore 12 Centre
23Ethan McIlroy 14 Back

Dragons

15Jordan Williams Full-Back
14Rio Dyer 21 Winger
13Jared Rosser Centre
12Max Clark 23 Centre
11Ashton Hewitt Winger 79'
10Angus O’Brien 22 Fly-Half 11'
12'
9Rhodri Williams Scrum-Half 56'
1Rhodri Jones 17 Prop
2Elliot Dee 16 Hooker 54'
36'
3Leon Brown 18 Prop
4Ben Carter Lock
5Matthew Screech Lock
6George Nott 19 Flanker
7Taine Basham Flanker
8Aaron Wainwright 20 No. 8
16Brodie Coghlan 2
17Josh Reynolds 1
18Lloyd Fairbrother 3 Prop
19Sean Lonsdale 6
20George Young 8
21Lewis Jones 14 Back
22Will Reed 10 Fly-Half 55'
23Aneurin Owen 12 Centre

Past Meetings

(Round 12)
0 - 12
United Rugby Championship
Rodney Parade

Dragons v Ulster

(Round 15)
22 - 26
PRO14
Rodney Parade

Dragons v Ulster

(Round 3)
40 - 17
PRO14
Kingspan Stadium

Ulster v Dragons

Ground

Kingspan Stadium
Kingspan Stadium, Ravenhill Park, Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT6 0BW, United Kingdom

I am a Sports Journalism & PR graduate from Staffordshire University. During my time at Final Whistle, I have covered the LOI National League, international games and the Women’s National League. Outside of Final Whistle, I am a researcher for World Rugby and a writer for The Rugby Paper.