Ulster v Leinster
It must be said that, all in all, it has been a pretty good few weeks for Ulster rugby since The Archipelago last checked in. This week, the goodness has been flowing with particular fluidity, however. While Ulster almost threw away victory and eventually drew with the Scarlets at the brand new, shiny, Parc y Scarlets, would a draw in Wales in the Heineken Cup have seemed possible even just a few weeks ago? The fact that Ulster should have taken a home bonus point and should have beaten the Scarlets in Llanelli may be disappointing but the continued improvement is exciting in itself.
As if the marked improvement on the pitch wasn’t good enough news, on Monday it was announced that Ulster Rugby had secured the services of Darren Cave and David Pollock for another two seasons. All in all, seven players signed on the dotted line on Monday and with Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble locked into new deals, the future is looking bright. The fact that Ulster are determined not to make the mistakes of last season is a massive step forward in itself but Bryn Cunningham’s comments in the press this week about the state of the Ulster dressing room, compared to last season, are equally as encouraging.
The last time I updated this column, Ulster had just defeated Munster and things were beginning to look up. Since then, Ulster won three games on the bounce and, after the draw against the Scarlets, are now unbeaten in five games. For those interested, the last time Ulster went unbeaten in five games was in January, February and March 2006 when Ulster were on the way to winning the Magners League. Okay, one of these games was against an atrocious Portugal side but the last time that Ulster went unbeaten in four competitive games was just as long ago.
The added bonus of the 60 plus points that Ulster put past Portugal means that Ulster have scored 25 tries in five games. Before Ulster visited The Stoop, they’d managed to score a meagre seven tries in seven games; an average of five tries per game is a fantastic return and even an average of almost four tries per game in the last four competitive matches is a marked improvement on where Ulster were just a few weeks ago.
The resounding win against Connacht must have buoyed even the most jaded of Ulster fans. Connacht, on their day, are capable of a big performance and for Ulster to put 50 points should not be discredited on account of Connacht’s revolving door defence. Cardiff also put 50 points on Connacht, while the Scarlets hit them for 45 points. The fact is, however, that Cardiff and Llanelli are the level of team that Ulster need to be competing against. Both have made the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup in recent times and have registered reasonably consistent performances in the Magners League over a number of seasons. If Ulster can match these teams then the dream of having knockout Heineken Cup rugby back in Belfast may not be too distant.
The last time Ulster scored 50 points in a competitive game was against the Borders in May 2006. Just as a coincidence, the very week after Ulster trounced the Borders, they went to Stradey Park and came away with a draw.
Somehow, I find myself comparing this Ulster team to the 2005/6 team. In many ways, it is still a valid comparison and now that Matt Williams has got his team playing dangerously from the setpiece and from first phase ball, the comparison can only grow. Matt Williams clearly has a lot more rebuilding to do to create a longer legacy than the team of 2006. Just how quickly the bubble of the class of 2006 burst is a reminder to us all not to get carried away.
This is, of course, a different Ulster team; of the team that started against Connacht, only 6 started that fateful game in Liberty Stadium but the changes are as much in mentality as they are personnel.
Still, despite thrashing Connacht, it wasn’t a perfect performance and it was with some trepidation that I trekked to my local Irish theme bar to watch Ulster take on the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup. Despite the scoreline, the Ulster performance against Connacht wasn’t perfect - the forwards did not front up as well against Connacht as they have at other times this season and Ulster were gifted more than one try by some embarrassing Connacht defence. The Heineken Cup, even against Magners League opposition, is a step up in intensity and there were never any guarantees that this Ulster team was ready to make that step up just yet.
In the end, Ulster didn’t disappoint. For the first time in some two years, Ulster were able to raise the intensity of their game, not just to the level required to compete in the Heineken Cup, but to a level at which the Scarlets couldn’t compete for long times. In the end, it was a comfortable Ulster victory with the only major disappointments being the sub-10,000 crowd and the lack of a winning bonus point.
The Ulster backrow was vicious throughout. Diack was appropriately awarded man of the match but this game, combined with his excellent performances in the Autumn showed that Stephen Ferris is on his way to becoming, not just an international class backrower, but a world class one. The exciting news is that David Pollock isn’t too far away from joining him and, with the consistency brought by Diack, it’s clear that Ulster are building a backrow that should become one of the very best in Europe before too long.
There were mistakes as before. The lineout wasn’t perfect, the restarts were a lottery and tackles were missed. Darren Cave, as a case in point, typified the night for Ulster. He took his try wonderfully, defended like a Spartan all night and was in the thick of everything, yet blew at least one try scoring opportunity, spilt the ball more than once and slipped off a few tackles. Cave is a true success story of the Matt Williams era but, just as he can still make mistakes and just as there is still plenty of room for improvement, so there is with the wider team and we shouldn’t forget that. Ulster are still an improving but imperfect outfit and the failure to push on in the second half and win the game at Parc y Scarlets is symptomatic of where Ulster are.
This was never going to be a must win game for Ulster; realistic hopes of knockout qualification were ended at The Stoop and this was never going to be the confidence building exercises that the wins against Munster and Connacht had been. Had Ulster gone to Llanelli and lost, the confidence built in the preceding weeks would not have evaporated but somehow, the manner in which Ulster drew could well be more damaging because Ulster should have won and the players know they should have won.
Ulster took at 10 point lead into the second half and had been playing with confidence but, with the wind at their backs, seemed content to see the game out, rather than pushing on to guarantee the win. It was a disappointingly negative approach and, ultimately, an approach that probably cost Ulster victory.
Isaac Boss was a microcosm of everything Ulster did well in the first half and of everything that went wrong in the second half. Boss kicked well in the first half, his distribution was faster than at any stage in the past two years and, more than anything, he got his team moving forward with purpose and direction. In the second half, all of that went out the window and as the Scarlets came back into the game, he again seemed to lose all confidence in those outside and took too much on himself.
As a senior member of Ulster’s backline, the desire that Boss has to lead is entirely understandable of course but it doesn’t mean that he’s in the right. Stephen Jones kicking into the wind caused all kinds of problems for the Ulster backline and every time Boss took on a box kick, he presented Jones with another opportunity to put Ulster under pressure. In the second half, Boss played an incredibly negative game that impacted on those around him. Ulster were trying to win the game without the ball and that can only cause problems. It was a naïve way for Ulster to try to win the game and goes to show that, for all the recent improvements, this is still a team that has a lot to learn. There is still some way for Ulster to go but three wins and a draw in four competitive games speaks for itself.
Williams has found a team that now knows how to win. Ian Humphreys has excelled off the double pivot with either Steinmetz or Wallace, Nagusa has relished having the ball in hand and Trimble and Danielli, both now getting back to full fitness, are beginning to show just what they can do. Up front, Justin Fitzpatrick is rolling back the years and the engine room of Caldwell and O’Donoghue is beginning to look like it can do serious business. O’Donoghue has already exceeded pre-season expectations and is growing into his role more and more, while Caldwell’s discipline and effectiveness have improved to the extent that he finds himself in the thick of everything.
There is no need to tinker, unnecessarily, with a winning formula. As we all know, success breed success and confidence breeds confidence. It’s hard to argue for any unenforced changes to the team that took to the pitch at Ravenhill last Friday evening. It is a team that is, again, capable of coming away with another four points. It won’t be easy – the Scarlets, even at the newly built Parc Y Scarlets, will be a different animal to the one at Ravenhill last week – but the confidence that would come from an away win, in Wales, in the Heineken Cup, may well be exactly what is needed to propel Ulster to home wins against Leinster and Harlequins.
The Archipelago’s Ulster 22 for Leinster:
15. B. Cunningham
14. A. Trimble
13. D. Cave
12. P. Wallace
11. S. Danielli
10. I. Humphreys
9. C. Willis
1. J. Fitzpatrick
2. R. Best
3. B.J. Botha
4. E. Donoghue
5. R. Caldwell / M. McCullough
6. S. Ferris
7. D. Pollock
8. R. Diack
16. N. Brady
17. T. Court
18. M. McCullough / T.J. Anderson
19. K. Dawson
20. I. Boss
21. M. McCrea / T. Nagusa
22. C. Schifcofske
