THE TOUGH GRIND

Grinding out wins is an art.

Leinster made a habit of it in their glory years under Leo Cullen and Brian O’Driscoll. Same with Munster under O’Connell and O’Gara. It was how those teams reached the lofty heights of being championship-winning teams: they could force the results they didn’t deserve.

At the Sportsground on Saturday night we saw that Ulster have evolved to a team that can grind out those close results.

They had no right to win that game, and neither did Connacht – the two sides had played each other to a rugged stalemate and had effectively cancelled each other out for 75 minutes, with a draw probably the respectable result between them. But Ulster were not about to let their winning run come to a halt.

It is said that rugby is just as much about a team’s mentality as much as their physicality, and that shone through for Ulster. They had that mental fortitude carried over from a week ago in the Stade Ernest Wallon to know that the game was not beyond them even going into the last few minutes and it was a simple strike move off the back of a scrum that set Luke Marshall through who was then able to recycle for Nick Williams to score.

It was poetry in motion. The move was slick, the recycle was rapid and Williams’ awareness to see the gap at the bottom of the ruck was top quality. Ulster may not have had a player on the field with the status that the likes of an O’Connell or an O’Driscoll would have, but they had something better: a united squad belief that they could still cross the line.

Once they did it was inevitable that Ulster would win, both because there were just three minutes left on the clock and also the fact that Connacht’s heads dropped as soon as the try was awarded.

It added that degree of professionalism to a dogged performance that is a very important win away from home in the league. Connacht spurned two kicks at goal earlier in the game and Ulster made them pay with the late blow, and they now sit fourth in the PRO12 table four points better off as opposed to just two and they have their mental belief to thank that that is the case.

And not only that, but the momentum continues to build. No, the performance was not perhaps up to the same standard as that of the two games against Toulouse, and the coaches and players are probably the first to admit that, but the win is just as important and as credible. Remember, that’s two unbeaten home records Ulster have broken in successive weeks, and this one was just as hard fought as the one in France.

It is crucial for Ulster to keep this momentum up, both for their own sakes and for the sake of Irish rugby.

With Leinster destined to miss the quarter-finals of the Champions’ Cup, and Munster more than likely joining them based on their current form, it is up to Ulster to fly the Irish flag alone in Europe. That means it will probably take two bonus point wins against Top14 basement dwellers Oyonnax and probably a losing bonus point away to Saracens as well to get there, and it will require their continued momentum to propel them to those three results.

On current form Ulster will make the quarter-finals handily. Unless Oyonnax pull one of the shocks of the year by sending out a full side for either game then a side of Ulster’s quality are more than capable of taking all ten points on offer, and armed with a stronger knowledge of their opponents and a more settled team they can give Saracens a real good game in London.

But their recent found form has been built on a strong squad ethic and a belief that all players can play their part.

With an injury list like Ulster’s, grinding out wins is a vital necessity as we face important games that will define where we are as a club heading into the New Year. It’s been a crucial part of both Leinster and Munster teams that have won trophies in the past and it is a sign that Ulster are building and becoming a team that know how to win ugly, and possibly a few trophies on top of that.

By its very definition, it isn’t pretty. But it is pretty effective.