I think for the first time in a while, I left
Ravenhill after a defeat without a sense of dread. Usually whenever Ulster have
lost (especially at home) I am very upset and I start to analyse what exactly
went wrong. On Friday night it was very obvious what went wrong – we just
couldn’t get over the try line. Then we gave them one chance right at the very
end of the match and they took it.
I won’t wax lyrical, fair play to Glasgow,
they defended superbly well and then when they got their chance they did what
we didn’t – they took it. I won’t admit they deserved it, I don’t think anyone
will, but they hung in brilliantly and took advantage of all our shortcomings.
It will have been a very enjoyable coach journey back to Glasgow for the
Warriors.
So, zero from two now for Ulster, and
definitely an argument that it should be two from two. Against the Dragons they
never clicked at all and Glasgow should have been disposed of easily. Had
Michael Allen or Luke Marshall caught their respective passes on Friday night
then we wouldn’t be staring at two defeats in two matches. It’s painful seeing
Ulster tenth in the table after two games.
Mark Anscombe has a big big job ahead of him.
With the massive Heineken Cup opener against Leicester looming on the horizon,
he has to get his players in a winning mentality as soon as possible. I think
fans sometimes underestimate what the winning mentality can do for teams – just
look at Ulster last season. Thirteen games unbeaten speaks volumes – once you
get going, it’s very hard to stop.
Therefore I think it’s about time we see
another unbeaten run, don’t you? Connacht away this weekend will be a very
tough match considering the circumstances we come into the game under, and Pat
Lam has stamped his authority on Connacht already. Had referee Claudio Blessano
had even a half decent match last Friday then maybe they would be two from two
and sitting pretty.
The Sportsground is a notoriously difficult
ground to go to, especially whenever the wind and rain begin to howl.
Harlequins will remember the Sportsground with fond memories from two seasons
ago – on the cusp of Heineken Cup knockout qualification they came to Galway
only to head back to London on the back of a humiliating 9-8 defeat and
crashing out of the competition.
Ulster must not underestimate the opposition.
On paper, Ulster are the stronger side. On paper, Ulster should easily win this
match. But as anyone will tell you, sports matches are never won on paper.
Connacht know rightly they have a great chance to cause a scalp here – their
opponents are heading into this match on a three match losing streak (including
the friendly against Leicester) and they’ll be thinking to themselves, “Why
not?”
Anscombe has to drill his players right. Two
losses hasn’t killed off our Pro12 chances by a long way, but a third would be
incredibly detrimental, and might be one loss in a row too far. Again, it
wouldn’t end our Pro12 chances completely, but three straight losses is a heck
of a lot to come back from. Good job we’ll welcome back Craig Gilroy this
weekend, and maybe another familiar face too…
Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic for
Saturday. Hey, we’re due a win sometime soon, why not Saturday? Here’s hoping…
European
Disunion
With all the mess that’s going on regarding
the Heineken Cup, I feel obliged to write a little bit about it this week. I
don’t really have an opinion on it to be honest, whatever happens to it, as
long as we’re still in it and still have a chance of winning it, I don’t care. Although
I am opposed to the way the English are going about it.
The threat to withdraw from the tournament
altogether and set up an Anglo-French Cup (with special guests) is no more than
a scare tactic, attempting to get the ERC to give in to their demands. It’s a
cowardly move with Mark McCafferty seemingly unable to simply negotiate with
the European heads instead. The ERC aren’t exactly perfect either though –
refusing to budge on the current system is complete foolishness because there
is universal agreement it must be reformed.
How it should be reformed I don’t know. There
are several different ways being touted but as I said, I have no personal
preference. All I know is that it should be handled a lot better by all parties
involved, because right now there must be people looking at the sport and
thinking to themselves, “What a mess.” And the sad thing is, they’re completely
right.
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