Gloucester are heading towards a place in the knockout stages of the Heineken
Cup after a decisive victory over Ulster.
The home side's forward dominance at the set-piece and their greater finishing
power established a convincing victory.
Ulster will kick themselves all the way back to Belfast because they were
handily placed just before the interval until Gloucester's second try opened up
a gap they would never relinquish.
Ulster failed to score in the second half as the Kingsholm pack ate up great
swathes of ground from driving mauls and turned up the temperature in the scrum
on their way to six tries.
Gloucester led 9-3 after 16 minutes - three Henry Paul penalties cancelling
out one from David Humphreys - and it was the Ulster outside half who created
the first try of the game with a spell-binding piece of skill in the second
quarter.
He somehow sent scrum-half Neil Doak on a curving run and although Kevin Maggs
was held on the line, Humphreys arrived again to score from close range.
He converted his own try to hand the Irish province a 10-9 lead.
But when it went wrong for Ulster, it did so spectacularly.
Paul had nudged Gloucester ahead with his fourth penalty but when Humphreys'
pass was picked off by Duncan McRae, the Gloucester number 10 raced 70 metres to
score the intercept try.
Gloucester then never looked back. Their forward power, with Phil Vickery,
Andy Hazell and hooker Chris Fortey to the fore, established a platform that
Ulster could not contain.
And just before the break it was another Ulster mistake that handed Gloucester
their second try.
Humphreys dropped a low pass from Doak and from the scrum McRae swapped passes
with Paul and Jon Goodridge cut a lovely angle to the line.
Gloucester went for the jugular in the second period, turning the screw
mercilessly up front and after Paul had dropped a goal following a massive
drive, the home side scored their third try after 54 minutes.
Fortey found James Forrester at the tail of a line-out and from the drive,
prop Christo Bezuidenhout emerged from the pile with the score.
Paul's conversion took Gloucester 36-13 ahead and when Humphreys again had a
pass picked off by Simpson-Daniel two minutes later, Gloucester celebrated a
gift-wrapped bonus point.
It keeps them behind leaders Stade Francais but even when they lost McRae to
what looked a serious injury on a stretcher, Gloucester's dominance did not
waver.
And they completed the rout when replacement Adam Balding sent Marcel Garvey
away from 20 metres in stoppage time.
In the 89th minute Balding drove over for the sixth try to complete Ulster's
misery.
Teams:
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel,
McRae, Gomarsall, Bezuidenhout, Fortey, Vickery, Eustace,
Brown, Buxton, Hazell, Forrester.
Tries: McRae, Goodridge, Bezuidenhout,
Simpson-Daniel, Garvey, Balding.
Cons: Paul 5.
Pens: Paul 4.
Drop Goals: Paul.
Replacements: Bailey for Fanolua (67), Mauger for McRae (45),
Azam for Fortey (67), Powell for Vickery (78),
Cornwell for Eustace (45), Balding for Brown (70).
Not Used: Page.
Ulster: Cunningham, Bowe, Maggs, Steinmetz, Howe, Humphreys,
Doak, S. Best, Brady, Moore, Longwell, McCullough, Ward,
N. Best, Wilson.
Tries: Humphreys.
Cons: Humphreys.
Pens: Humphreys 2.
Replacements: Wallace for Humphreys (65),
Campbell for Doak (79), Larkin for S. Best (77),
Shields for Brady (44), McCormick for Longwell (44),
Feather for Ward (80), Frost for N. Best (44).
Sin Bin: Moore (42), Wilson (80), Frost (80).
Att: 12,487
Ref: Eric Darriere (France).
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