Ulster secured their place in the Guinness PRO12 play-offs as they ran in six tries in their 46-26 victory at Ospreys.

Dan Biggar’s score had given Ospreys an early lead before Paddy Jackson and Rory Best put the Irish province in front.

Josh Matavesi pulled the hosts level briefly but Andrew Trimble’s try sent Ulster into the break 21-14 ahead.

And the visitors were to retain their lead for the rest of the match as Chris Henry, Stuart Olding and Franco van der Merwe also dotted down for Ulster, with Tom Grabham’s double proving to be merely consolation.

Victory for Ulster sets up a Guinness PRO12 play-off semi-final against their Irish rivals Leinster while Ospreys finish the season down in eighth.

The Irish side were occupying the final Guinness PRO12 play-off spot by one point ahead of kick-off, with fifth-placed Scarlets facing a trip to Munster, who themselves needed a win to guarantee a European Champions Cup place.

And Ospreys went into the contest four points behind Munster in sixth and one ahead of Edinburgh in the battle for the final Champions Cup slot.

The Welsh region showed their intention early on as they turned down the shot at goal in favour of kicking to the corner.

The decision didn’t pay off but it wasn’t long before they went ahead when James King – in his 100th Guinness Pro12 game – gained yards from the base of the scrum before the ball was moved quickly into the arms of Biggar and he was left with a simple try under the posts.

Both of the sides were looking to play expansive rugby and after breaks from Iain Henderson and Rory Best helped Ulster into the opposition 22, Jared Payne released Jackson with an inside ball for another easy score.

The Irish province then went ahead ten minutes later when Best took full advantage of poor defending from King to power over, with Jackson making it 14-7 to the visitors.

And Ospreys were not helping their cause as they were turned over in the opposition 22 three times inside the opening half an hour, while Ulster were left to rue indiscipline with a penalty count of ten to one in the opening 40 minutes.

It looked as though Steve Tandy’s men would go into the break level though after a quick penalty and reverse pass from Rhys Webb helped create an opening after several phases of play, Matavesi holding off the tackle to stretch and dot down.

But just before the interval a kick through by Trimble took a devilish bounce to wrong-foot Webb and the Ireland wing had enough pace to run through and touch down, with Jackson making it 21-14.

With Munster leading Scarlets 14-12 at the break, things were looking good for Ulster in the race for the fourth play-off place, while the same could not be said for Ospreys in the battle for the final Champions Cup spot.

An early penalty for Jackson extended Ulster’s advantage but there were less clear-cut chances at the beginning of the second period.

Ospreys’ problem of being turned over in dangerous positions reared its head once again yards from the try-line and it looked as though Ulster had suffered the same fate minutes later, only for Henry to show great opportunism to grab the visitors’ a bonus point.

Webb was preparing to box-kick clear when the flanker dived through the ruck to touch down. The television match official was required to show the Ireland international had not knocked on and even after the try had been awarded, the TMO asked for a second look as Jackson prepared to take his kick.

He eventually converted before adding a penalty soon after to make it 34-14 to Les Kiss’ men.

As the game entered the final quarter of an hour Ospreys kept their slim hopes of victory alive when Grabham did well to place the ball down in the corned following Jackson’s tackle.

Biggar missed the difficult conversion and a couple of minutes later the contest was effectively ended when Olding easily slipped the tackle of Scott Otten to score, with Jackson making it 41-19.

A poor pass from Biggar ended with Sam Davies kicking through for Grabham to score his second try of the afternoon but once again Ulster responded immediately as van der Merwe showed immense strength to ground for 46-26.

It rounded off an impressive attacking display for Ulster; one which will no doubt have grabbed the attention of their play-off rivals.

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