Ulster douse Dragons' fire and stay top of RaboDirect PRO12
RaboDirect PRO12 leaders Ulster claimed their sixth win from six league games with a 46-19 victory over Dragons.
Last Updated: 26/10/12 9:24pm
The visitors ran in six tries to earn a bonus-point victory that leaves the Dragons just one place off the foot of the table.
The Dragons made a fast start and led 6-0 thanks to a brace of early penalties by full-back Tom Prydie, but Ulster struck back on 16 minutes when Ruan Pienaar made a break inside the hosts' 22 and offloaded for Ireland prop Tom Court to go under the posts, making the South African's conversion an easy one.
The game swung back the Dragons' way thanks to a converted try by Samoan centre Andy Tuilagi, before Ulster number eight Nick Williams' close range score.
Prydie's penalty inched the hosts back in front only for his clearance to be charged down by Pienaar, who dived on the ball over the line for Ulster's third try as the visitors led 19-16 at the break.
Despite a Prydie penalty early on, the second-half was almost all one-way traffic as Pienaar slotted over a pair of penalties to get Ulster underway again.
And it was all over entering the final quarter thanks to tries by centre Darren Cave, from close in, and wing Andrew Trimble, who intercepted on halfway before dashing between the posts.
Pienaar converted both for a 39-19 lead before replacement centre Jared Payne added the icing to the cake two minutes from time.
Ulster have now won all eight of their games this season - they are also two for two in the Heineken Cup - and look every inch contenders for a European and domestic double.
