Ulster crush off-colour Blues

Nick Williams: set up first Ulster try; scored second

Jared Payne: superb chip and chase secured the bonus point

Ulster maintained their unbeaten start to the RaboDirect PRO12 season with an impressive 48-19 bonus-point win over Cardiff Blues.

The Irish province ran in seven tries to rack up their fourth straight victory on an emotional night at the Cardiff Arms Park.

A moment's silence was perfectly observed before kick-off in memory of Nevin Spence, the Ulster centre who tragically passed away earlier this month.

The hosts started brightly, with debutant Jason Tovey kicking two early penalties and captain Sam Warburton knocking on with the tryline at his mercy.

But Ulster began to grow into their game, largely due to a dominant scrum, which won a penalty in front of the posts that allowed Paddy Jackson to get them off the mark.

Things got even better for the visitors on 14 minutes when a quick tap by Nick Williams resulted in centre Michael Allen scoring the first try, before then departing injured.

Tovey narrowed the gap with his third penalty but Cardiff's defensive frailties were again exposed on 29 minutes when great work down the blindside by Paul Marshall sent No 8 Williams crashing over.

Cardiff lost Tovey to injury before the interval, when they trailed 17-9, and things got worse in the second half when Tommy Bowe marked his return to Ulster with a try.

A superb chip and chase by Jared Payne secured the bonus point for Ulster, with Bowe grabbing his second minutes later.

Harry Robinson dived over on the hour mark to give Cardiff hope, but further scores from Williams and Andrew Trimble capped a fine Ulster performance.