Cardiff mount extraordinary second half fight back to floor Ulster

Cardiff produced a remarkable second-half turnaround to stun Ulster 21-19 at a raucous Arms Park in the United Rugby Championship.

The lethargic home side looked dead and buried at half-time when they trailed 19-0 but after the interval emerged a totally different outfit to register 21 unanswered points.

Iwan Stephens, Dafydd Hughes and Thomas Young scored their tries, with Callum Sheedy converting all three.

For Ulster, Jude Postlethwaite grabbed two tries and Cormac Izuchukwu another, with Nathan Doak adding two conversions.

It took Ulster 10 minutes to raise their first attack but they certainly made it count with a continuous battering of the opposition line.

Cardiff hooker Evan Lloyd was yellow-carded for persistent team infringements before Izuchukwu capitalised by forcing his way over.

Worse was to follow for the Welsh region when a strong run from Doak split the home defence to create a try for Postlethwaite before another flowing move culminated in the centre crossing for another.

Lloyd eventually returned from the sin-bin after seeing his side concede 19 points in his absence before Ulster suffered a blow when their captain Iain Henderson departed with an injury.

The only positive for Cardiff in a dismal first-half performance was the solidity of their scrum which won a couple of penalties but they still remained scoreless at the interval.

What have we just witnessed? 🦅🔥

Stephens stuns the crowd, flying high for an unforgettable try!@cardiff_rugby#BKTURC #URC | #CARvULS pic.twitter.com/2DRTKsjQU5

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 26, 2024

Five minutes after the restart, the home side had their best chance for points when a neat break from Ben Thomas gave Mason Grady an opportunity.

However, the wing fumbled before stumbling into touch with the line only metres away.

Cardiff maintained their momentum and were aided by a yellow card for Ulster No 8 David McCann for a deliberate offside and this allowed them to come on the scoreboard with Stephens out-flanking the cover defence to leap over in the corner.

McCann returned from the sin-bin and in time to see Hughes burst away from a maul for an unopposed run to the line and bring the home side right back into contention with 15 minutes remaining.

The comeback was complete when Young rolled over from a driving line-out, with Sheedy’s conversion giving Cardiff the four points.