Ulster rally late vs La Rochelle but fall to third straight defeat

It felt like things couldn't get much worse for Ulster after last week’s 39-0 hammering away to Sale Sharks. At half-time, we were reconsidering that theory.

Down 29-0 and having conceded more than 100 points - and scored just seven - in the previous 160 minutes, Dan McFarland's side looked devoid of confidence and lost in the vast emptiness of the Aviva Stadium.

Their desperation had been summed up by dreadful discipline, conceding 11 penalties in the first 40, five of which were kicked for points for Antoine Hastoy, while the out-half and Brice Dulin added a pair of tries.

But with the competition structure the way it is, every bonus point counts, and after tightening their discipline up, they rallied with tries for Iain Henderson, John Cooney and Duane Vermeulen to get back within 17 heading into the final quarter.

Tom Stewart finished off a lineout maul on 73 minutes, which John Cooney converted to make it 36-26, and the 'hosts’ had something tangible to cling onto in the form of a try bonus point.

And with Cooney kicking a penalty with the final play of the game, it trimmed the scores to seven points, enough for a second bonus point, and maybe even a glimmer of confidence to keep them going over Christmas, and into two big Irish derbies in the next fortnight.

The opening minutes were dominated by the boot. Both sides traded contestable kicks until Ulster blinked first. Rory Sutherland strayed offside in midfield, allowing Hastoy to put La Rochelle 3-0 in front with a penalty on four minutes.

Hastoy doubled the lead to 6-0 just before the quarter-hour mark, his second penalty straight in front of the posts after Duane Vermeulen had been caught pulling down a maul.

No team had been penalised more than Ulster in round one and