Ulster thrash Dragons by 52-25 to move into top spot

Ulster 52-25 Dragons, Belfast

Ulster maintained their unbeaten record in the ongoing 2017-18 Pro14 rugby season after thrashing the Dragons by 52-25 at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday to move into the top spot of the Conference B.

A rookie Dragons side suffered a predictably humiliating defeat in Belfast after head coach Bernard Jackman revealed a team with 13 changes from the side which managed to secure a win over Connacht in Newport last week to end a 14-game losing streak.

The Irish side ran eight tries as opposed to three scored by the Men of Gwent as Less Kiss' team had their bonus point in the bag after just 25 minutes.

Stuart McCloskey (2), Peter Nelson (11), Nick Timoney (24, 48), Wiehahn Herbst (28), Jacob Stockdale (43) and David Shanahan (62) scored tries for the hosts as fly-half Nelson also managed to slot four conversions with Herron converting Shanahan's try.

Rhys Buckley (34), Dane Blacker (56) and Will Talbot-Davies (79) crossed over the try line for the visitors as fly-half Dorian Jones managed to convert Buckley's try in addition to scoring a couple of penalties. O'Brien converted Blacker's try while missed out on converting the final try for the Dragons.

Timoney was awarded the man-of-the-match award for his double.