Ulster claim bonus-point against 14-man Zebre in Parma

Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

URC: Zebre 12 Ulster 28

Ulster claimed a bonus-point 28-12 victory over 14-man Zebre in Parma.

The Irish side went into the clash in third place in the URC table, while Zebre prop up the rest, but it was the hosts who took an early lead through Tommaso di Bartolomeo's try from a powerful maul.

Tom McAllister drew Ulster level with his first try for the province and in the 29th minute Simone Gesi was shown a red card for Zebre after appearing to claw at the eyes of Stuart McCloskey.

The teams went in level at the break but Rob Herring went over to put Ulster ahead four minutes after the restart while Zac Ward added a third try in the 53rd minute following a good break from Juarno Augustus.

The bonus point was secured with 10 minutes left by Werner Kok, and Nathan Doak added his second conversion to go with two from James Humphreys.

There was still time for Zebre to grab a second try through Jacopo Trulla, while Scott Wilson was shown a late yellow card for Ulster.