Ravenhill

An explanation first of all of the title. Rugby fans will I hope recognise it immediately. It means Stand Up For The Ulster Men. The chant could be heard around a rain-soaked Ravenhill tonight as Ulster took on Glasgow Warriors in the Heineken Cup. Despite some protests over the union flag on some of the main roads in Belfast, it was almost a packed house (10,940) and there seemed to be only a handful of visitors from Scotland. The wet conditions were not conducive to good rugby. Ulster dominated the first half. Ruan Pienaar put over a penalty after seven minutes and the out half added the conversion after Nick Williams went over for a try in the nineteenth minute. A 10-0 lead for Ulster at the break. Glasgow came back in the first fifteen  minutes of the second half with two penalties from out half Duncan Weir. Pienaar added another penalty on 62 minutes to give the home side a seven points cushion 13-6. The last quarter saw a determined Ulster side score two tries in the 73rd (Jared Payne) and 78th (Darren Cave) minutes. Neither was converted but coach Mark Anscombe will be satisfied with the result: victory to Ulster by 23-6. With one round of pool matches remaining, Ulster now sit top of Pool 4 on 19 points, five clear of Northampton Saints and six ahead of next weekend’s French opponents Castres. Although qualification for the Cup quarter-final is now secure, a good away result next week would give Ulster the advantage of a home draw in the knockout stages. Man of the match: Tom Court.

ULSTER 23 GLASGOW WARRIORS 6  (HT 10-0)

For the teams, see Ulster Rugby.