Ulster far too good for Connacht in scrappy Belfast inter-pro

On a night when neither side were particularly good, Ulster were by far the better team.

The rust of pre-season took an edge off this derby, and although Dan McFarland's side produced enough moments of clarity to easily hold off Connacht, they could play better and still lose on another day in the BKT United Rugby Championship.

Andy Friend's side have been have seen plenty of changes in the off-season; a reshuffling of their coaching structure as well as seven new signings and they looked like a team still struggling to stitch it all together.

Ulster's familiarity with themselves proved to be the difference; a strong set-piece establishing possession and territory, and gainline winners like Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall who could make it count as they ran in five tries in total to secure a bonus-point start to the season.

After a year on the sidelines, all eyes were on the return of Jacob Stockdale, and while the Ireland wing enjoyed some promising moments, it was Marshall who provided the sparks in the first half when the game looked damp.

The 31-year-old has endured an awful two seasons of injury, featuring just four times in each campaign, but he was electric at times in the first half, with three line-breaks, as well as the opening try of the game on 27 minutes, before delivering a back-handed offload to Stewart Moore for the bonus-point score just after the hour mark.

That fourth try had come either side of tries for Tom Stewart and Nathan Doak, and although the visitors replied with a breakaway Caolin Blade score on 70 minutes, it was arguably the first and only moment in the game where they really looked threatening.

The early exchanges were as expected for early-season fare. Some promising Connacht phases in