But there
was no denying Ulster’s dominance. It resulted in their opponents only having
possession in Ulster’s 22 three or four times during the entire 80 minutes and
most of the play occurred in the Connacht half.
Certainly
if Ulster play like that against Castres next week then there should be only
one result. That said, Mark Anscombe will be worried about the back line’s
inability to secure a try bonus point which could be vital when it comes to April.
For all the possession and territory the Ulstermen had, to only score three
tries is probably not good enough, and may not be next Friday.
Now, don’t
get me wrong, we created chances. In fact, the amount of chances created was
probably around quadruple the number scored. But in the end it was old demons
that came back to haunt us with a dropped pass or a slip spurning the
opportunity.
To be
fair, we probably have to give a bit of credit to the Connacht defence. At the
start of the second half they defended like their lives depended on it and they
came away with the rewards. Even though they didn’t get on the scoreboard, they
fully played their part in the match and denied the hosts the full quota of
points.
But what
Ulster’s attack lacked, their defence made up for it. With no points conceded
at all, and minimal yardage losses, the management will no doubt be happy in
that aspect. Every time a green shirt ran at the Ulster line, a white shirt
opposed him and hauled him down. Defence like that wins matches and it will be
tested thoroughly throughout the year.
The scrum
once again emphasised its strength with the awarding of the penalty try at the
end of the first half, although it then seemed to lose its first half dominance
in the second 40. At half time, Ulster director of rugby David Humphreys said
they were building a game based around the set piece. But it will receive its
first big test next week against Castres, renowned for their strong scrummaging,
as are every French side.
The return
of Rory Best was a joy to behold after his injury and he returned to a solid 60
minutes at hooker, continuing the strength in the scrum and line-out throwing
as well. Tommy Bowe’s first game at Ravenhill in an Ulster shirt since his
return from Wales was also good to see and he had a few good runs showing he is
ready to score plenty of tries for his new side.
But, once
again, it was the New Zealander at no. 8 who was the star man for Ulster and if
there’s any better way to prove your doubters wrong than to be man of the match
in four of your first five matches, then it hasn’t been found yet. The
unfortunate image near the end of the match of him limping off was a blow.
While the extent of the injury is unknown at this stage, the entire Ulster fan
base will be hoping for a speedy recovery ahead of our European adventure. He
may be a pivotal player.
Yesterday
I said this game was probably going to be used more as a warm-up match for the
game next weekend, and I think this was probably right. There were a lot of
moves tried, a lot of moves failed, but a lot of moves worked. Anscombe and the
players will go away and work on these for the Heineken Cup. The countdown
begins now.
Tonight we
learned Connacht are no pushovers. They stood up and withstood everything that
Ulster threw at them and rightly prevented the league leaders from getting all
five points. But on a sour note, we know we have to cut out those small errors
that prevented us from getting that bonus point. Next week we may not be so lucky…
I can’t bear it!
OK, what
on earth happened to Sparky? It looks like somebody replaced him with Mickey
Mouse and spray-painted him brown! Ulster have a lot of explaining to do…
Bring back
our bear!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment