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Ulster secured a much-needed Pro12 win over Edinburgh thanks to two tries inside the opening 11 minutes.

The first score was a penalty try awarded when home scrum-half Ruan Pienaar was prevented from scoring by Edinburgh's offside skipper Mike Coman.

Winger Rory Scholes added a superb try from Louis Ludik's lay-off and Paddy Jackson added his second conversion.

Edinburgh got back into it early in the second half through South African back-row forward Cornell du Preez.

Jack Cuthbert added a difficult conversion in windy conditions at the Kingspan Stadium.

But Ulster sealed the win to move above Edinburgh and into fifth place in the Pro12 standings.

It was a frustrating end to the day for Edinburgh, following the earlier announcement that head coach Alan Solomons had extended his contract until the end of next season.

Director of Rugby Les Kiss must have been encouraged by Ulster's first-half display, which yielded a 14-point interval advantage.

But the injuries that resulted in three players having to go off before the break will be of concern.

Flanker Iain Henderson (hamstring) and centre Darren Cave (shoulder) were early casualties while full-back Peter Nelson (foot) was also carried off.

Lock Dan Tuohy was also helped off after sustaining an ankle injury during a line-out midway through the second half.

The hosts had to make a late change before the game as Nick Williams came in at number eight for Roger Wilson, who had suffered a back spasm.

With back-to-back European games against Toulouse up next, Ulster can ill-afford to have key players sidelined.

Ulster's director of rugby Les Kiss: "It was a pretty special win when you take into account we lost Roger (Wilson) before the game and then the injuries meant players were playing out of position.

"We will have to assess the injuries, but a couple of them may be long term.

"The boys will rebound, and we have enough resources so we will try not to get too downhearted about it."

Ulster: P Nelson, A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, R Scholes, P Jackson, R Pienaar, K McCall, R Herring (capt), R Lutton, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, I Henderson, C Henry, N Williams.

Replacements: J Andrew for Tuohy, A Warwick for McCall, W Herbst for Lutton, A O'Connor for van der Merwe, C Ross for Henderson, P Marshall for Scoles, S McCloskey for Nelson, L Ludik for Cave.

Edinburgh: J Cuthbert, D Fife, C Dean, M Scott, W Helu, P Burleigh, S Kennedy; A Dickinson, R Ford, WP Nel, A Bresler, A Toolis, M Coman (capt), J Hardie, C Du Preez.

Replacements: N Cochrane for Dicksinon, R Sutherland for Ford, J Andress for Nel, H Watson for Coman, N Fowles for Kennedy, M Allen for Dean, B Kinghorn for Cuthbert.

Not used: J Ritchie

Referee: Ian Davies (WRU)