Cardiff’s long-awaited return to United Rugby Championship action ended in a heavy defeat as Ulster crossed for seven tries at the Kingspan Stadium.
In a season already dominated by cancellations and postponements, the Blue and Blacks had to wait five weeks for a game following their hugely impressive victory over championship leaders Leinster.
A fixture in Ravenhill, where Cardiff have not triumphed in more than a decade, was a significant challenge and the lack of momentum showed as Ulster displayed their ruthless streak.
They raced into an early 17-0 lead thanks to two fortuitous tries from Robert Baloucoune and James Hume and despite some bright spells, Ulster took control of the encounter in ruthless fashion and never looked back.
Stuart McCloskey grabbed a third on the stroke of halftime and the hosts extinguished any hope of a comeback following Kirby Myhill’s early second-half score as they claimed four more tries. Wales squad member James Ratti added a late consolation second for Cardiff in the dying moments.
Cardiff made an assured start in Belfast and the majority of the opening exchanges took place in Ulster’s own half. However, it was the hosts who claimed the opening try as they benefitted from a fortuitous bounce from their first attacking play.
After winning a scrum penalty on their own 22, Billy Burns kicked his side downfield and moments later they were under the sticks. It came from another Burns kick into space, which did not appear threatening. However, a cruel bounce of the ball went back over the heads of the Cardiff defence and into the hands of onrushing Ireland wing Baloucoune, who raced clear.
Nathan Doak added the extras and following a succession of penalties, he made it 10-0 to Ulster with Willis Halaholo sent to the bin for making a tackle while on the floor.
It was perhaps an unfair reflection of the opening 15 minutes but matters were quickly made worse.
Josh Turnbull burst through midfield and galloped to the Ulster 22 before flicking a pass around the back to Lloyd Williams and with Ulster’s defence unstructured the ball was quickly released to the left.
Jarrod Evans threw a long pass but it was intercepted by Hume, who raced clear to land a sucker punch on the Blue and Blacks, which Doak converted. That gave Ulster a 17-0 lead after little more than 15 minutes.
While the opening two tries were unfortunate and against the run of play, Ulster began to take a stranglehold on the game and they pressed for a third try after kicking another penalty to the corner.
Cardiff defended manfully and soaked up the Ulster pressure before Ellis Jenkins, with the support of James Botham, pounced for a huge turnover on his own five metre line.
The ball was scrambled to the right but with no game in five weeks, passes were not as crisp as they could have been and Owen Lane had plenty to do. He tore out of his 22 and kicked ahead but it was not a clean strike and the opportunity was lost.
Cardiff did however enjoy plenty of attacking possession and as the game progressed they began to find a rhythm. They pressed for a try in the closing stages of the half and were given a penalty after Ulster infringe on their own try line.
Josh Turnbull called for a quick tap but a miscommunication saw the Cardiff captain lose possession and knock on with the golden opportunity lost.
Cardiff were then punished for failing to convert the opportunity as McCloskey stretched over in injury time, displaying the hosts’ ruthless clinical edge once more.
Following a difficult first-half, Cardiff struck the first blow of the second-half thanks to a Kirby Myhill try.
It was the dazzling footwork of Jarrod Evans that created the opportunity. He dummied his way through heavy traffic before finding Rey Lee Lo in support on the inside.
The Samoan centre released Lloyd Williams, who was tackled five metres short but Turnbull did remarkable well to secure possession and the ball was spread to the left where Myhill crossed.
Evans was unable to convert from the touchline and the hard work was quickly undone as Nick Timoney powered through a number of defenders to claim Ulster’s fourth.
They kept the scoreboard ticking with a fine second from Baloucoune and Aaron Sexton crossed thanks to some slick handling shortly after the hour mark.
Tom Stewart claimed Ulster’s seventh try of the night as the final 10 minutes approached.
With the game out of sight, Cardiff did cross for a late consolation score as number eight Ratti powered through a host of home defenders to dot down in the dying moments.
Lane came within inches of scoring a fine individual score but couldn’t gather his own kick, while Hume had a try chalked off in the final play.