PLAY-OFFS HERE WE COME!

Four tries for the Ulstermen and a dominant win made for a rather enjoyable evening for all Ulster fans last Friday – even the dreary Northern Irish weather couldn’t spoil Ulster’s evening as they capped off a fine regular season with a 37-13 win over the Cardiff Blues, securing top spot in the RaboDirect Pro12.

On the night, Ulster met all the expectations that were put on them and duly delivered, although they made hard work of it early on, actually heading in at half-time 10-13 down. But they finished off the game in style, running in three second half tries to guarantee themselves a home semi-final against the Scarlets this Friday.

You have to give Cardiff a lot of credit. Missing their Lions contingent of Warburton, Halfpenny, Roberts and Cuthbert, they still gave Ulster a good game and were in with a chance of causing an upset for most of the match. I’m rather surprised they’re as low down as ninth in the table because they played some very good rugby.

However, the gulf in class was apparent. In the second half Ulster turned on the style and grasped the game by the scruff of the neck and used their skill to dominate the proceedings, so much so that the visitors didn’t even get on the scoreboard in the second half, or even relatively close to it.

It is that professionalism that Ulster will have to show during the play-offs if they wish to win the Pro12. Against Saracens in the Heineken Cup they were guilty of missing golden opportunities to score points and let the home side run away with the game. Ulster have to learn from that, and realise that in big knockout matches, your points must be taken when they’re offered to you.

Still, Ulster will be in a position they’re unfamiliar to – favourites. There’s no doubt that most rugby fans will be expecting a home win and that puts a lot of pressure on Ulster to perform. Last time they were favourites Ulster only just scraped past Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup semi-final.

But Mark Anscombe and his side will head into the knockouts with plenty of confidence. In their last three matches Ulster have taken the maximum fifteen points on offer to them and have controlled those matches rather easily. They can go into the play-offs boasting the best record of the top four sides.

All focus turns towards the play-offs this weekend and it’s another step forward for the Ulstermen. Here we go…

RaboDirect Pro12 play-offs

Ulster Rugby vs. Scarlets

Friday 10^th May, 19:45

Ravenhill

Leinster Rugby vs. Glasgow Warriors

Saturday 11^th May, 19:35

RDS Arena

Top 4 tussle

Scarlets 17-41 Treviso. No you didn’t read that wrong. No I have not mixed the scores up. On Friday night at the Parc y Scarlets, Treviso produced possibly their performance of the season to grab a bonus point win over Ulster’s play-off opponents the Scarlets and finish seventh in the table. It will be a hammer blow to the boys from Llanelli as they prepare for the play-off match in Belfast and they will have to regroup quickly if they want to stand any chance of winning this weekend.

Meanwhile in Dublin, the Ospreys had been presented a glorious opportunity to sneak into the play-offs with that Scarlets loss, but they could not take it against a resurgent Leinster side that ran in four tries to grab a bonus-point win and deny the Welsh side a spot in the knockouts. With the final likely to be at the RDS Arena, you’d say the Boys in Blue are favourites for the overall title.

In Galway it was business as usual for Glasgow who wrapped up a 20-3 win over Connacht to guarantee themselves third place, which means they will travel back to Ireland this Saturday to play their knockout match against Leinster. In the form they are in however, you would back them to give the Dublin side plenty of difficulties.

It’s season over for both Edinburgh and the Dragons, but that didn’t stop them playing out a cracker of a match at Murrayfield, with the home side coming up top in a thrilling 31-24 win. With a brand new coaching team coming in next season, Edinburgh will look to push on from this season, while the Dragons have proven that they can push their fellow Welsh regions for an automatic Heineken Cup place.

Finally, my heartfelt commiserations go to Zebre who have finished the season without a win after coming so close to beating Munster in Parma. Luciano Orquera had a kick late on to give the Italians what would have been a deserving victory, but unfortunately his effort drifted wide and the Limerick outfit held on for a 27-25 win. Undoubtedly Zebre will be back next season with a strong determination to set the record straight.