Ulster Rugby make the trip to Cavan for first-ever match in a GAA ground

After the bus weaved its way across the winding roads linking Auger, Clogher, Maguiresbridge and Lisnaskea, and the players disembarked to make their way to the changing rooms, you'd have forgiven them if they had turned left at the sign for the visitors.

But, if the ubiquitous Kingspan branding was the only familiar sight to those used to Ulster Rugby in BT6, it was clear that every effort had been made to ensure this trip to Breffni Park was very much a home away from home.

When even the visiting media are offered a cooked breakfast practically in the time between the swinging of the car door and the sound of it slamming shut it's clear the boat has pushed out.

The Cavan Rugby Club Male Voice choir serenaded the team on the way in with their version of Stand Up for the Ulstermen, while World in Union was reserved for Glasgow.

The sight of a teenager wearing an Ulster jersey with a Ballyhaise GAA bag slung over his shoulder was a neat summation of the collision of two sporting worlds, but it would be wrong to assume that the locals in attendance are merely filtering through the turnstiles out of curiosity.

To that, witness only the youngster who, similarly bedecked in O'Neill’s gear, clearly knew which autograph he was hunting as he made a beeline straight for Jacob Stockdale as the Ulster and Ireland wing neared the players' entrance.

Making their way from that gate through the stadium and onto the pitch, the players were surrounded by reminders of Cavan's glorious history in the GAA, with stories of the first Ulster county to win an All-Ireland, and their four subsequent liftings of the Sam Maguire everywhere you look.

One hundred years since the opening of Breffni Park, you were struck by the notion that, while this was a historic fixture, this is a part of the the province with more than its fair share of history already.

In the region of 7,000 had made their way to into the ground by the time the players took the the field, the 20 metres chopped off at either end of the pitch a reminder of the considerably larger dimensions required by the 30 players in a Gaelic football contest.

For all the sense of occasion surrounding the build-up, once the referee gave his first blast of the whistle, this was typically pre-season fare.

While the sides have been involved in a elongated summer due to the ongoing Rugby World Cup, there was still plenty of what we're used to in these sorts of occasions.

Ulster have shared minutes around in their preparation games so far but, with a side that looked a lot more like the one we're likely to see against Zebre when the real stuff starts in two weeks' time, there was an understandable need to develop cohesion as things went along.

The northern province have talked about showing less reliance on their power game this season but they were able to call on the old faithful a few times to get the job done here.

Summer signing Dave Ewers was the first over from close range to give his side the lead early on, although there was more evidence of using their heft in the tight exchanges to create space for others in their second try as Jake Flannery sent James Hume through a gap after Glasgow had been forced to commit numbers.

Experienced scrum-half Jamie Dobie crossed the whitewash in response for Glasgow but Ulster would have the final say in a half during which they had dominated possession.

Tom Stewart had a record-breaking year in terms of try scoring a season ago and he was over again here following a prolonged period of Ulster pressure that had led to a yellow card for opposition prop Nathan McBeth.

Replacement Gregor Heddleston muscled his way over three minutes into the second-half to reduce the arrears but the pattern of the game was largely established.

Even with just a five-point lead, Ulster rarely looked like surrendering the advantage, although they'll have been disappointed not to make more of their sizeable advantage in possession in terms of impacting the scoreboard, especially in the second-half.

Ulster did threatened to inflict further damage - Stewart Moore and Nick Timoney both breaking the line but unable to make the last pass stick - but ultimately had to make do with their 19-14 victory knowing that the importance placed upon results will ramp up considerably by the time they next take the field for the URC opener.

As they headed back to Belfast, their pre-season slate now finished, it was back to business as usual in Breffni.

Posts to come down, pitches to be remarked… Sunday brings a return to the familiar with a pair of senior football semi-finals.

Ulster Rugby: Will Addison; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale, Jake Flannery Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Tom Stewart (C), Greg McGrath; Matty Rea, Kieran Treadwell; Dave Ewers, Marcus Rea, Dave McCann Replacements: John Andrew, Billy Burns, Ben Carson, Reuben Crothers, Angus Curtis, Cameron Doak, Ben Griffin, Cormac Izuchukwu, Ethan McIlroy, Conor Mckee, Stewart Moore, Ben Moxham, Shea O’Brien, Aaron Sexton, Dave Shanahan, Harry Sheridan, Nick Timoney

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Duncan Munn, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe; Duncan Weir, Jamie Dobie (c); Nathan McBeth, Angus Fraser, Lucio Sordoni; Max Williamson, Alex Samuel; Gregor Brown, Ally Miller, Henco Venter.

Replacements: Gregor Heddleston, Oli Kebble, Enrique Pieretto, Ruaraidh Hart, Thomas Gordon, Ben Afshar, Ross Thompson, Facundo Cordero, Corey Tait, Ben Salmon, Kerr Johnston, Ollie Horne.

Scorers: Ulster, D Ewers, J Hume T Stewart tries; J Flannery 2 cons.

Glasgow: J Dobie, G Heddleston tries ; D Weir 2 cons. Yellow cards: N McBeth