PRO14: Ulster 38-14 Ospreys

Ulster's PRO14 season got under way with a bonus-point win over Ospreys at Kingspan.

Craig Gilroy marked his return from injury with a brace, Matt Faddes scored on his debut, Greg Jones crossed for his first try for the province, and a penalty try completed the rout.

The visitors had enjoyed the much better start as Luke Price nailed an early penalty before Dan Evans ran in an 8th minute try after being released in midfield by the fly-half.

Billy Burns then provided the spark to pull Ulster back into contention with a clever cross-field kick in the 14th minute.

Struck just outside the 22, it was collected by Craig Gilroy who held off a defender to crash over in the corner on his first start for 11 months.

With 23 minutes played, Ulster were again punished for indiscipline at the breakdown as Price kicked a penalty from dead center on the half way line.

However, the momentum shifted after Ospreys winger Luke Morgan was shown a yellow card in the 30th.

Less than 2 minutes later, Ulster made their numerical advantage count as patient play saw Greg Jones touch down after 11 phases to put the home side ahead for the first time.

Price was able to slot another Ospreys penalty on 37, but there was still time for Ulster to reply before the interval.

Again they made use of their numbers to spread the play wide and debutant Matt Faddes collected Gilroy's pass to power into the corner and dive to score his first try for his new club.

Shortly after half time, John Cooney knocked over a penalty to extend the Ulster lead, before Gilroy secured the bonus point in the 50th minute.

It was almost a carbon copy of his first try as Burns floated another cross-field kick in behind the Ospreys' defence, and this time the winger was able to collect the ball and dart under the sticks for an easy Cooney conversion.

With 10 minutes left to play, Rob Lyttle looked certain to touch down after chasing a kick into the corner before he was tackled off the ball by Luke Morgan.

The winger was shown a red card for a second serious infringement, with the ref awarding a penalty try to wrap up a comprehensive win.