Ulster 41 Castres 17: Bowe and Trimble star in Heineken Cup win

Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble played a starring role as Ulster eased to a 41-17 bonus-point victory over Castres in the Heineken Cup.

Both men featured in every Six Nations game for Ireland last season, and the pair stand to make their 50th international appearances if selected for the autumn internationals by Ireland head coach Declan Kidney.

Bowe and Trimble, on 49 and 48 Ireland caps respectively, have played a crucial role this season for an Ulster side who are so far unbeaten in their opening six matches.

It was Trimble’s ninth-minute try which gave the Ulstermen a lead which they never relinquished, with scrum-half Paul Marshall going over twice before Ruan Pienaar crossed late on to secure the bonus point.

While his name did not appear on the score-sheet Bowe was a dynamic presence on the right wing until being replaced by Craig Gilroy late on, though the 28-year-old admits Ulster are far from the finished article despite their impressive start to the season.

“We’re delighted to get all the points but there are areas we are going to have to work on,” said Bowe.

“After Paul’s first try we fell off a little bit, which is similar to what we did against Connacht and we need to be more wary about that as the season progresses.

“It’s great to get off the mark with a win but it could have been a lot closer so we have to make sure we don’t take our foot of the pedal as the competition progresses.

“It wasn’t as clinical as it could have been and you won’t always get away with that.”

© Sportsbeat 2012