Bundee Aki hits beast mode on 100th cap as Connacht prove too strong for Ulster
Bundee Aki marked his 100th Connacht appearance with a try in their impressive 26-20 bonus point victory over Guinness Pro14 semi-finalists Ulster at the Aviva Stadium. Two crisply-created scores from John Porch after 11 minutes and Kieran Marmion after 22 had Connacht leading 14-6 at half-time, the westerners looking particularly sharp in their first game at Irish Rugby Football Union HQ since 1989.
Ulster, whose play-off qualification was confirmed by Edinburgh’s win over Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night, could only muster two John Cooney penalties until Jacob Stockdale crossed six minutes into the second half.
Aki and Nick Timoney swapped tries either side of the hour mark before Andy Friend’s men finished the stronger, with young replacement prop Jack Aungier celebrating his debut with the bonus-point effort inside the final two minutes.
Cooney knocked over a long-range fifth-minute opener, rewarding Marcell Coetzee’s efforts at the breakdown.
It was a scrappy start, mired by reset scrums, until Connacht began to blaze a trail towards the try-line.
Alex Wootton, one of five Connacht debutants on the day, stretched his legs up into the opposition 22. With Ultan Dillane carrying hard and Denis Buckley showing soft hands, Ulster’s splintered defence allowed Jack Carty to cleverly throw an overhead pass and send Porch in behind the posts.
Carty’s conversion was followed by a second Cooney penalty, but Connacht were already in a free-flowing mood.
A cracking move down the left wing saw Wootton connect with man-of-the-match Porch, whose left-footed dink infield sat up perfectly for Marmion to touch down.
Carty converted before watching Cooney suffer his only penalty miss in humid conditions.
Ulster’s execution was letting them down, with Adam McBurney held up from a 35th-minute lineout maul and then suffering an overthrow.
Ulster improved their accuracy during the third quarter, although again Stuart McCloskey and McBurney were denied tries from close range.
Direct rugby off a 46th-minute scrum paid off, though, as Billy Burns’ beautifully-floated pass put Stockdale over to the right of the posts.
Big @bundeeaki12 with a bundling score on his ?th appearance for @connachtrugby ?
Welcome back to the #GuinnessPRO14 @Ian_madigan ?
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?? Watch Live Now on @eirSport and @SportTG4#CONvULS pic.twitter.com/V9JksVteYN— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) August 23, 2020
Connacht wasted little time in responding, Tom Farrell just losing the ball forward in the act of scoring before centre partner Aki made certain from a subsequent 54th-minute attack.
He powered through Ian Madigan’s attempted tackle to crash in under the posts, with Carty converting.
Madigan soon claimed his first Ulster points, converting number eight Timoney’s try from a five-metre scrum.
Connacht were now down to seven forwards due to replacement hooker Jonny Murphy’s sin-binning for a no-arms tackle.
However, it was they who showed more energy late on as Aki agonisingly fumbled a Jarrad Butler offload out wide, while a Peter Sullivan-led break could have led to points.
That clinching score did come, however, as Aungier burrowed over from a close-in ruck.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to comments