Ruan Pienaar kicked 16 points as Ulster thumped scarlets 47-15

ULSTER scored five tries in the second half to beat Scarlets 47-15 in the Pro12 match at Ravenhill on Friday night.

It was a complete demolition by Mark Anscombe’s men who had a poor start but finished strong and were just two powerful for seconded placed Scarlets.

And powerhouse Nick Williams – who was substituted after 58 minutes – was named Man of the Match as he proved the difference between the two sides in the second half.

Anscombe had a few harsh words for his team at half time. “I told them we w ereflat and lacked energy,” is all he would say of half-time team talk.

And his pearls of wisdom seemed to have give the Ulster players the well needed kick up the backside they needed to cut out the sloppy ball handling errors that marked some of the first half.

What followed was a second-half blitz from Ulster which seen them increase their lead at the top of the RaboDirect Pro12 table to 14 points with an emphatic 47-15 victory over second-placed Scarlets at Ravenhill.

The match was evenly-poised at 9-3 to Ulster at half-time however tries from forward duo Robbie Diack and Nick Williams put the home side on their way to a sixth successive home league victory of the season.

Wing Andrew Trimble then crossed for the try of the night before a penalty-try sealed the bonus point and Neil McComb completed the rout.

Scrum-half Ruan Pienaar added 16 points with the boot.

It was a miserable night for Scarlets, who have now lost five of their last six matches in all competitions.

And their woes were compounded when Wales wing George North was stretchered off to a warm applaused from a packed Ravenhill stadium.

Ulster will hope to build on the Scarlets when they host Glasgow Warriors next Friday night at Ravenhill.