Ulster 52-24 Exeter: Ulster face nervous wait after ending second-half hoodoo
Of course, context matters. While Ulster have endured their fair share of struggles this season, Exeter have had an even tougher time.
Rob Baxter’s side arrived in Belfast having suffered a 69-17 defeat at Bordeaux, their 12th defeat in 13 games in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
The team has also undergone a lot of changes, retaining only three players and losing first-line stars such as Henry Slade or Dafydd Jenkins.
As such, an enterprising first half performance may have excited Ulster as Ross Vincent retained Stewart Moore and Rob Lyttle Behind him, finishing a sensational personal shot as well.
This time, however, there was no serious collapse in Ulster.
Returning hooker Rob Herring sealed the extra point within 10 minutes of the restart, with Cormac Izuchukwu’s superb individual strike from Ben Carson and Dave McCann scored his second and third on the second field goal.
Ulster played some lovely stuff too. Jude Postlethwaite’s delightful offload set up Michael Lowry for Carson’s try and Izuchukwu’s second goal came through Ritchie · Scored at the end of one of the best games that Richie Murphy’s side have assembled all season.
“They did a really good job tonight,” Murphy said of his team.
“There’s a lot of things we want to look back on, fix and get better. But at the end of the day, these guys play for each other and the fans are great and have their backs behind them.”
