Ulster 15-26 Wasps

Ulster were beaten 26-15 by Wasps in a lacklustre preseason friendly at the Kingspan Stadium on Thursday night.

The province took advantage of the occasion, getting plenty of players out onto the pitch, but the game itself was short on quality from the home side.

Wasps took an early lead in the 11th minute after carving an opening down Ulster’s left flank. It ended with Craig Hampson finishing off a flowing move strung together by a series of offloaded passes.

Brett Heron slotted a 22nd minute penalty in reply for Ulster, and 5 minutes later Pete Browne rumbled over to score from close range to give his side a 1 point lead.

However, this time Heron sent his kick a few yards wide.

Tommy Bowe then entered the game earlier than expected, replacing Stuart McCloskey in the 34th minute after the centre picked up a knock.

One minute before the break, the visitors were back in control.

Loosehead prop Simon McIntyre emerged with the ball after a rolling maul crashed over after a lineout to put Wasps 14-8 ahead at half time.

But just two minutes into the 2nd period, Ulster outside centre Callum Patterson was sent away through the middle and cleared 40 yards, outpacing several Wasps defenders before touching down. Substitute Pete Nelson easily tapped over the conversion to add the extras, and given Ulster a narrow advantage.

Josh Bassett somehow scored for Wasps in the 50th minute, just moments after Ulster looked to have saved themselves from conceding a certain try.

They managed to hack the ball to safety and send the English side back towards their own 22 – but just seconds later, Wasps had cleared the length of the pitch to score in the corner.

Danny Cipriani then scored all too easily on the back of a Wasps scrum, selling a simple dummy to beat his man and cross just before the hour.

Ulster showed only glimpses of attacking threat for the remainder of the game, but most moves ended in frustration on the back of poor handling, or sloppy decision-making.