In fact, the comparison between the two
matches couldn’t have been any different – Friday night had us hiding behind
our sofas for the second week running, while Saturday’s game had us jumping up
and down on them in delight.
Well, maybe that was just me…
Ulster’s
Italian ‘Rob’
Despite playing some of their worst rugby
this year, Ulster have managed to leave Italy 8 points better off. Somehow.
And both of the Italian sides will have sat
down after the game and said to themselves, “How on earth have we lost that?” Last
weekend Ulster required a dubious penalty try to snatch victory away from
Zebre, and this weekend it was close to a miracle that saw them sneak past
Treviso. Both sides will feel like they were robbed.
But there’s a whole other side to the story –
we won. That’s now nine out of nine in the league, eleven out of eleven in all
competitions and fourteen games unbeaten this season. Even if the performances
aren’t brilliant, the results are, and that’s the thing that matters most.
However, similar to last weekend, beyond the
win, there isn’t much else to cheer about. Ulster’s overall performance was
very poor – it was sloppy, it was lethargic and it was thoroughly lacking in
all departments. Unlike last week, there are no excuses this time – all you can
say is that Ulster were poor.
As my title says – they got the luck of the
Irish. That luck came in the form of the opposition – Treviso were, to coin a
common phrase, the masters of their own downfall. Alberto di Bernardo’s kicking
display let Ulster off the hook right at the very end of the game and their
butchered opportunities only made matters worse. On any other night the result
may have gone another way.
But most Ulster fans would claim that the
result was justified with the TMO disallowing two Nick Williams drives – one of
which appeared to be a clear-cut try. Although the overall performance was not
up to the usual high standards that Mark Anscombe has set this season so far,
if one of those tries had been given it would have been an easier ride.
I would go into more detail, but I actually
missed the game, so I can only give a general view from what I saw in the
highlights!
So Ulster now head to the Welsh shores for
the fourth time this season to take on the Scarlets, hoping to make it four
wins out of four in the land of the daffodil. Llanelli hasn’t been a happy
hunting ground for Ulster over the last few seasons though and Anscombe will
have to make sure his team are running smoothly again, or it could be a hard
Sunday evening…
On
a wing and a prayer
For the second week in a row, Craig Gilroy,
take a bow.
Only ten minutes into his international
debut, Jonny Sexton gave the young winger an inside pass, and from there it was
a formality for him, ghosting between two Argentine defenders and then beating
three more before crashing over for Ireland’s first of seven tries. It set up a
brilliant performance for the Ulsterman (and Ireland) – and he will have played
himself into contention for a 6 Nations starting place.
But, not to be outdone by his provincial team
mate, Tommy Bowe stole the show with two tries of his own, firstly using his
blistering pace to latch onto a Sexton grubber kick and then capitalising on a
defensive error by the Argentinean defence to dot down for his second, proving
why he is such a lethal player to have in any team.
And it wasn’t just Ulster players who
impressed in the green shirt. Jonathan Sexton again had a magnificent game at
fly-half, notching up two tries, while Richardt Strauss and Donnacha Ryan had
big games in the pack, dominating the breakdown and bullying the Argentina
forwards. It was a brilliant overall performance by Ireland.
Now it’s down to Declan Kidney to realise
that this is the way to go for Ireland. It may be a high-risk strategy that he
adopted for the game, but it is clear to see that it worked. Even though
Ireland shipped 24 points, they ran in seven tries and 46 points in reply. If
this is the policy that Ireland go with during the 6 Nations then they stand a
real chance of winning.
And no, I’m not joking.
My
predicted Ireland 6 Nations team:
15. Rob Kearney (Leinster), 14. Tommy Bowe
(Ulster), 13. Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster), 12. Keith Earls (Munster), 11. Craig
Gilroy (Ulster), 10. Jonny Sexton (Leinster), 9. Conor Murray (Munster); 1.
Cian Healy (Leinster), 2. Rory Best (Ulster), 3. Mike Ross (Leinster), 4.
Donnacha Ryan (Munster), 5. Paul O’Connell (Munster), 6. Stephen Ferris
(Ulster), 7. Sean O’Brien (Leinster), 8. Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).
16. Richardt Strauss (Leinster), 17. David
Kilcoyne (Munster), 18. Michael Bent (Leinster), 19. Mike McCarthy (Connacht),
20. Chris Henry (Ulster), 21. Eoin Reddan (Leinster), 22. Paddy Jackson
(Ulster), 23. Simon Zebo (Munster).
In squad: Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Declan
Fitzpatrick, Donncha O’Callaghan, Dan Tuohy, Peter O’Mahony, Iain Henderson,
Paul Marshall, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Trimble, Fergus McFadden, Luke Marshall,
Darren Cave
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