Ulster draw Glasgow 33-33 at Scotstoun. It was a United Rugby Championship thriller that swung from total control to total chaos and back again. Ten tries and five yellow cards later, Richie Murphy’s side walked away with a bonus point and five points from their opening two matches of the season.
Glasgow had gone into the game as favourites. They had won away at Munster in round one and lost only once at Scotstoun all last season. Ulster, by contrast, were coming off a home defeat to Edinburgh and had already lost Jacob Stockdale, who withdrew from what would have been his 150th appearance for the club because of a hip issue. Murphy said it was not right to let him play “at this stage of the season”. We covered the decision in our Stockdale preview earlier in the week.
None of that mattered once the game kicked off. Murphy later called it “too entertaining from a coach’s point of view” in a BBC Sport report, a verdict that undersells a match with 66 points, three tries scored in nine frantic minutes, and a finish decided by a missed penalty and a tackle into touch.
Detailed First Half Narrative
Ulster made their intentions clear straight away. Bryn Ward crossed in the fourth minute, catching Glasgow cold and setting the tone for an open, attacking afternoon. Glasgow hit back through Josh McKay, and the game settled into the kind of back-and-forth contest few at Scotstoun had expected given the hosts’ recent record there.
The first real shift in momentum came when Dan Lancaster was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. Reduced to 14 men, Glasgow struggled to contain Ulster’s width, and Ethan McIlroy punished the gap with a well-taken try of his own. Ulster were now firmly on top, playing with the tempo and width that would earn praise from their head coach afterwards.
Glasgow regrouped as the half wore on, but Ulster had the last word before the break. Jack Murphy scored in the final play of the half, a score that pushed Ulster five points clear at the interval. It capped a half in which Ulster had looked the sharper, more composed side, exactly the platform Richie Murphy had wanted from a team chasing its first win of the season.
Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama
Ulster extended their lead early in the second half when Chay Mullins crossed to secure the try bonus point, a score that mattered more once Glasgow began their comeback. At that stage, Ulster were cruising. Murphy said afterwards: “We’re probably in complete control of the game when Ben’s unlucky in a collision and gets a yellow card.”
That card, shown to Ben Carson for a high tackle, changed the shape of the match. Ethan McIlroy followed him to the bin soon after for a deliberate knock-on, and with Ulster briefly down to 13 men in effect, Glasgow sensed their chance. The hosts seized it ruthlessly, scoring three tries in nine minutes through Jamie Dobie, Sam Talakai and Kyle Rowe to haul themselves back into a contest that had looked gone.
Ulster needed a response and found one. Nathan Doak converted Juarno Augustus’ try to level the match at 33-33, restoring parity after a finish that had swung wildly in both directions. Ulster draw Glasgow 33-33, with the bonus point banked but the lead they had built now gone.
The closing minutes carried genuine tension. George Horne had the chance to win it for Glasgow but struck the post with a late penalty attempt. Ulster’s Zac Ward was then tackled into touch as the clock ran down, ending the match exactly as it had been played: chaotically.
Murphy did not hide his frustration afterwards. “I thought we should have won the game,” he said, while also admitting that Ulster’s discipline in the closing stages let them down. “We’re quite a process-driven team, so getting players in the right position and doing the right things in the 80th minute is difficult,” he explained, adding: “But I think if we were a little bit calmer on the ball, I think we would have been able to construct a score.” He described the contest overall as “a bit crazy” but praised spells of “great rugby” from his side, and pointed to the value of “staying calm in the heat of battle” in matches like this one.
There was still some satisfaction in the result. “It’s a little bit bittersweet, but we will take three points home; coming out here, probably people didn’t really give us a chance,” Murphy said. “Look, we’ll take the three points and we’ll move on.”
Player Ratings (home side)
Bryn Ward 7/10: Set the early tone with a fourth-minute try, finishing well off a quick start. Involved in several of Ulster’s best attacking phases before the game became disjointed in the second half.
Jack Murphy 8/10: Scored the crucial try in the final play of the first half to put Ulster five points clear at the break. Composed on the ball throughout, part of a half-back pairing with the kind of home-grown promise our Belfast fly-half piece explored earlier this season.
Nathan Doak 7/10: Kicked the conversion that levelled the scores at 33-33 through Juarno Augustus’ try, a crucial score under real pressure. Steady throughout a game that demanded composure from Ulster’s half-backs late on.
Juarno Augustus 7/10: Scored the try that Doak converted to level the match, arriving at the right moment to keep Ulster’s bonus-point ambitions alive. A useful presence when Ulster needed a response to Glasgow’s late surge.
Chay Mullins 7/10: His second-half try secured the all-important bonus point for Ulster, a score that mattered more than it looked at the time once Glasgow hit back. Direct and effective when it counted.
Ethan McIlroy 6/10: Scored a sharp try while Glasgow were down to 14 men, showing good awareness to exploit the extra space. His afternoon was undone later by a deliberate knock-on that earned a second Ulster yellow card at a costly moment.
Ben Carson 5/10: His high tackle yellow card arrived just as Ulster looked to be cruising, and Murphy himself pointed to it as the moment the game turned. A difficult period to be the man in the bin.
Zac Ward 6/10: Involved in the frantic closing stages and was the man tackled into touch as the final play of the match, summing up a contest that refused to settle until the very end.
Player Ratings (opponent)
Josh McKay 7/10: Got Glasgow on the scoreboard early with a well-taken try, giving the hosts a foothold in a game Ulster had started quickly. Dangerous whenever given room in open play.
Dan Lancaster 4/10: His deliberate knock-on and subsequent yellow card handed Ulster a numerical advantage that led directly to Ethan McIlroy’s try. A costly ten minutes for Glasgow at a stage when they needed to stay composed.
Jamie Dobie 8/10: One of three Glasgow tries in a devastating nine-minute spell that dragged the hosts back into the match from a position that had looked beyond saving. Sharp and decisive when the chance came.
Sam Talakai 7/10: Scored during Glasgow’s remarkable second-half burst, part of the spell that turned a comfortable Ulster lead into a dead-even contest. Physical and effective in the tries that followed Ulster’s yellow cards.
Kyle Rowe 8/10: Completed Glasgow’s extraordinary three-try salvo, finishing a passage of play that had the hosts level with Ulster inside nine frantic minutes. A key figure in Glasgow’s fightback.
George Horne 6/10: Had the chance to win the match for Glasgow in the closing stages but struck the post with his penalty attempt, leaving the scoreline level when his side had sensed victory.
Ulster now turn to Munster, who visit Belfast next Saturday. Murphy called the fixture “huge” given his side’s recent home record at Kingspan Stadium.
“Our record at home over the last number of games hasn’t been good enough for us,” he said. “There’s been reasons in relation to team selection and things, but we need to right that.”
Ulster are still chasing their first win of the season and their first home win in four matches. That run makes the visit of a Munster side fresh from beating the Bulls in Limerick a serious test. “Irish inter-pros tend to be like that, but we’re really looking forward to it,” Murphy added.
There is a European dimension to the season too. Ulster’s Challenge Cup campaign is already mapped out, as we outlined in our Ulster pool route piece. After two rounds of this much drama, the URC table looks wide open.
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