IRISH FOUR SOAR TO WIN

Today I look back at a successful weekend for Irish club rugby – especially one in sunny Swansea…

8:00pm, Saturday 8^th September. My heart is nearly literally bursting out of my chest and I’m screaming at the TV, “Go, go, go!”

Luckily for Ulster and my heart condition, Ulster did go, and eventually ended up on the right end of a 16-13 scoreline in the south of Wales. And their reward? Four more points in the domestic struggle, an elusive win in the Liberty Stadium and another week of being able to boast a 100% record in the league.

Not only that, but Mark Anscombe can sleep happy, knowing he has yet to experience the bitter taste of defeat as Ulster head coach. A taste he will not want to have left in his mouth come the end of this Friday night against Munster.

But for large periods of the game on Saturday night it seemed like Ulster would never win. What ended up going right for them?

Loving life at the Liberty

It is well worth pointing out that this is Ulster’s first victory in Wales in five pitiful attempts, and even then we made very hard work of it. For the first 60 minutes it looked like the Ospreys were going to get away with it, but some quick thinking by Paul Marshall after some battering by the Ulster forwards gave us our first win in the Liberty since 2009.

And I know, if you read my first blog you’ll remember I predicted the Ospreys would win by 4. And at times it looked like this was going to be the case, right up until the 74^th minute. But for once, I am very glad I was wrong, and that Ulster prevailed over my brain.

I guess that sums up Ulster really. Unpredictable.

But the players did themselves justice. After a sloppy and, to be quite frank, boring first half, Ulster came out a changed side and after Anscombe threw on the Ireland contingent, the game was only going one way.

It was fantastic to see Stephen Ferris back in an Ulster jersey for the first time since the Heineken Cup Final and to make it through unharmed, and Nick Williams completed his first 80 minute stint, which was coupled with a deserved Man of the Match performance for his work at the breakdown and his wrecking ball running.

Darren Cave was brilliant in the midfield, organising the young players outside him, while his partner at centre Luke Marshall had another good game, proving that our young players know what they’re doing. Lewis Stevenson continued in his consistent form, putting in another brilliant shift at lock alongside leader Johann Muller as well and Mike Allen had some very good runs down the wing.

But the scrum, although initially weak, was completely dominant in the final quarter of the game and was the basis of the win. Subs John Afoa and Tom Court completely destroyed the Ospreys front row and it was Afoa who made the initial drive for Marshall to score his try. By the 70^th minute, you knew every scrum was going to result in an Ulster penalty.

Anscombe must be praised. His subs were timed to perfection and his tactics were bang on the money. The introduction of Marshall at half-time sped up the back line and Ferris and Afoa were introduced at just the right time to make their maximum impact on a tired Ospreys defence. Certainly nobody will be complaining about him now.

Ulster left Swansea last night in high spirits. And so they should. For the Ospreys, there’s a lot of work to be done…

Elation for Ireland

Ulster’s win in Wales rounded off a spectacular weekend for Irish rugby as all four sides recorded wins in their games, amassing a cumulative total of seventeen points in the league.

Connacht started the weekend off with a dominating 30-17 win over newcomers Zebre in Italy, while Munster disposed of the other Italian outfit Treviso in Thomond Park, 19-6. Leinster managed to secure the only bonus point win of round two, beating the Dragons 45-25 at the RDS, and Ulster rounded it all off, sneaking the win in Wales.

Although the other three sides had what wouldn’t be considered extremely difficult games, Connacht had to deal with a Zebre side that are trying to prove themselves in this league. They wouldn’t have been pushovers. Treviso had just come off the back of a magnificent victory over defending champions the Ospreys and would be wanting to follow it up, and the same for the Dragons who would have wanted to back up their bonus point victory over Zebre the week before.

Ulster’s win was probably the pick of the lot, but a mention to Leinster who bounced back from their crushing defeat in Llanelli the week before in some style, and Connacht who proved they can crank it up a few gears when required.

Irish rugby is fairly dominant when it comes to club rugby at the moment, producing five of the last seven Heineken Cup winners (three Leinster, two Munster) and four of the last seven Celtic League winners (two Munster, one Leinster, one Ulster), and long may this continue. Connacht are also showing signs of vast improvement and playing in the Heineken Cup will help this.

If the club form could be transferred to the international stage then Ireland would be a formidable force. Declan Kidney must seek out ways to do this or he could be seeking out a new job instead. The Autumn Internationals are coming up soon, and there needs to be at least signs of improvement, or the pressure could be on…

But for now, we can sit back and watch our club sides succeed instead. Two are still unbeaten, one is finding form, and the fourth is slowly creeping up behind.

It’s good to be an Ireland fan at the moment.

Five days till Friday

So all attention turns to this Friday and the visit of Munster to Ravenhill. And what a game it will be. Munster will arrive also boasting a 100% record in the league under a new coach, and more importantly, will be looking for revenge for that Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat in April.

Yes, we’ve played them since then, but for the last game of the season we sent down our “sacrificial lambs” as they were accurately dubbed and in the end we were thrashed. Any fan who calls that sweet revenge is satisfied easily.

No, this is the game that both sides will dearly want to win. All Ireland players will be released back to their clubs to play, with no exceptions, and it will be a massive blow in the league for the team that loses. There is more at stake here than just bragging rights.

I’ll look at this game in more detail later in the week, but for now it’s just a nervous wait. Two full strength sides in an interprovincial derby between Ulster and Munster for the first time in a long time.

It promises to be an epic tussle.