Ulster young guns run riot

Treviso 26 Ulster 43

Winger Andrew Maxwell, making only his second start of the season, nipped in for a hat-trick of tries, while the irrepressible Andrew Trimble chalked up a fabulous double and Tommy Bowe had the freedom of the park from his new full-back role to captivate an Italian audience sprinkled with 1,000 travelling supporters.

McCall was obviously delighted with his experimental team. “Some players came in to the team and performed quite brilliantly. It will certainly offer me a lot more options for later in the season when I’m going to be short some of the squad due to internationals.”

Maxwell, 24, certainly made his mark. A former Irish Schools’ sprint champion, he showed what he could do right from the start.

Bowe started it all when he hit the line at pace to put Maxwell in for his first try in the second minute.

Sheer pace again and the sight of the whitewash allowed Maxwell score two more tries before the break, with Bowe again the torturer-in-chief. Paul Steinmetz, who missed only one kick at goal in the match, converted all three as Ulster were 21-0 up on the half hour.

However, in between two converted tries by Treviso hooker Alvero Tegadn, Trimble made his entry on to the stage, although not in the way must expected when he was yellow-carded for what was deemed a dangerous tackle.

But he showed what he could do on his re-introduction in the second half. Fielding the ball with apparently nowhere to go, he took off from a standing start and whizzed around the Treviso defence to score a wonderful try.

Paddy Wallace, the forgotten man of Irish rugby, came on as a replacement for fly-half Adam Larkin, and immediately profited from James Toppings’ surging break with a fifth try.

In a game that was played at a face and furious pace with lots of open rugby, Treviso managed a couple more tries through Brendan Williams and Scott Palmer, but it was Trimble who ended show with another fine try as he squeezed in at the corner, engineering the man-of-the-match award for his endeavours.

TREVISO: B. Williams; P. Calanchini (M. Perziano 60 mins), G. Pizarro (A. Marcato 58), M. Barbini, S. Legg; M. Goosen, A. Troncon (capt, S. Picone 70min); F. Sbaraglini, A. Tejeda (F. Ongaro 53min), H. Mazino (A. Allori 39min), A. Pavanello, M. Wentzel (D. Kingi 51min), D. Dal Maso, S. Palmer, S. Orlando.

ULSTER: T. Bowe; J. Topping (J. Bell 69min), A. Trimble, P. Steinmetz, A. Maxwell; A. Larkin (P. Wallace 60min), I. Boss (K. Campbell 51min); J. Fitzpatrick (P. Shields 58min), N. Brady, B. Young (R Moore 17-28min, 70min), J Harrison (capt), M McCullough (R Frost, 76min) N Best, R Wilson, S Ferris (N McMillan 63min).

Referee: W Barnes (England).