Tommy Bowe made a welcome return to Ulster to prove the difference between a scrappy Ulster and a committed Connacht.

The first half was a dour affair with Humph and Warwick exchanging penalties. Connacht lacked the pace or guile to break down the Ulster defence and the Ulster line out misfired often enough to let Connacht off the hook whenever Ulster started to build up any pressure. Shieldsy needs to work hard on this part of his game as, at the moment, he is a liability.

Things went from mediocre to worse with the loss of Bryn after half an hour but it was good to see a bulked up Tommy B back on the wing and the remainder of the game was a useful workout for Bart at fullback.

The second half started with Paddy on for Humph quickly followed by Rory for Shieldsy and Bryan on for Justin and immediately the Ulster team appeared to have more focus Within a couple of minutes Paddy was putting Besty through and then Tommy away for the first try of the game. Tommy had plenty of work to do but he looks considerably stronger this year and he brushed aside the Connacht defence to go over in the corner.

Connacht struck back with a well worked try from the impressive Fogarty but Ulster were looking a different class by this stage and pulled away with a further try by Tommy B after good work by Hugo, Tommy again showing his speed and strength. The game was wrapped up with a try from the hard working Besty but unfortunately Ulster had left their revival too late to nab the bonus point.

All in all a good week for Ulster with defeats for Llanelli and Leinster but things will need to crank up a gear for Sundays big game at Lansdowne.

The FRU Man of the Match goes to Tommy Bowe who should push hard for his Irish place if he stays out of the treatment room.