Ulster A continued to build on their successful pre-season with a 48 to 38 win against Canada A on Friday afternoon at Ravenhill.

The match was part of a double header at the “Stadium of Delight”, with the seniors hosting Northampton Saints directly after, and the youngsters certainly set the tone scoring seven tries in an enjoyable enough romp.

Ulster’s tries came from Conor Keys, Aaron Cairns, Conor Fields, Johnny McPhillips, Craig Trenier, Adam McBurney and Nick Timoney, with McPhillips adding a penalty and three conversions and Fields slotting over two conversions.

Due to transport problems, linked to Tennents Vital, we arrived midway through the first half just in time to catch Ireland U20 star McPhillips dive over for Ulster’s fourth try of the first half. Keys, Cairns and Fields had already scored by that point in a dominant first half display with Ulster outscoring their opponents four tries to one. 

Frequent personnel changes after the break led to a disjointed second half and the visitors made the best of the fractured nature of the game, crossing five times in the second half to take a two point lead in to the closing stages. However, another Ireland U20 star, McBurney was on hand, together with “Man of the Match” Timoney, to restore Ulsters lead after Trenier had crossed for the home side earlier in the half. 

Final Score: Ulster A 48 Canada A 38

Ulster A: David Busby, Conor Kelly, Mark Best, Rory Butler, Aaron Cairns, Johnny McPhillips, Angus Lloyd, Kyle McCall, Zack McCall, Craig Trenier, Kieran Treadwell, Alex Thompson, Nick Timoney, Conall Boomer, Stephen Mulholland. Replacements: Adam McBurney, Tommy O’Hagan, Michael Lagan, Peter Cooper, Alistair Burke, Aaron Hall, Marcus Rea, Jonny Stewart, Andy Magrath, Conor Field.

Shout out for Larne man Alistair Burke who had an impressive game after coming on for the second half. 

Gallery below

Images by Ian Humes.