WEST WAGING WAR

There is a battle a-brewing in the Emerald Isle.

While Leinster and Ulster slugged to an 8-3 bore-fest at the RDS Arena on Friday night, Connacht produced another in their line of excellent performances to take their first win at Thomond Park in 29 years, defeating Munster 18-12 with outside centre Bundee Aki excelling and scoring a remarkable late try to make sure of the win.

And it means that Pat Lam’s men still lead the way not only in the Irish pecking order but in the Guinness PRO12 too, and deservedly so it must be said. Admittedly they have benefitted from not being as badly affected by the World Cup as other sides have been, however they have carried that momentum through and Saturday night’s result confirms that they are here to stay as a force in the PRO12.

Lam has coached them extremely well and finally the Galway men are emerging from beneath the shadows of Leinster, Munster and Ulster to try and dislodge the tag of being “Ireland’s fourth province”. They made considerable strides last season and came very close to making it into the Champions’ Cup, but this season they are playing rugby that makes them look like they are genuine candidates to finish in the top four of the PRO12.

And in some way they are something for the other three provinces to look up to.

While Connacht are playing the exciting expansive rugby that Lam has brought over from New Zealand, the rest of the provinces are floundering in their wake. The World Cup will have had a detrimental effect on Leinster, Munster and Ulster, and Ulster and Munster will have had an added setback having missed a game during the Champions’ Cup, but even so Connacht’s play seems to be a step up on anything the other three can produce.

Ulster in particular are struggling for some attacking impetus having scored just one try in their last three matches with Friday night against Leinster the latest in their efforts to cross the try line.

Yes they have come up against two of the most resolute defences in Europe in the form of Saracens and Leinster, however for two weeks Les Kiss’ men haven’t even looked like coming close to crossing the try line, and with the dangerous backs at their disposal that is a massive problem. The Kingspan residents will undoubtedly be counting down the days until Charles Piutau touches down in Belfast.

It really is hard to pinpoint where Ulster are falling so flat though, because on paper they should have all the pieces they need to play a strong running game and yet they seem unable to do so. It was a backline featuring an international half-back pairing, an international centre and two international wingers and yet between them they could only make one significant line break all game. And, ironically, of all of them it was the uncapped Peter Nelson at full-back who looked most dangerous.

The likes of Rory Scholes and Sammy Arnold wait in the wings to be given a chance to add a bit of a spark to the Ulster back line, but with the games coming thick and fast and all of them just as important as the next there won’t be too many chances for them to make their mark. Like Kyle McCall, if they are given a chance then they will have to take it with both hands.

Friday’s defeat combined with other results now means Ulster have slipped to seventh in the PRO12 table and out of the Champions’ Cup qualification places. By the end of the season that should change, of course, but even so it isn’t a nice position to be in at any stage. However you do expect Connacht, Edinburgh and the Scarlets to slip up somewhere along the line and let us back in. That said, you can’t rely on hoping for others to mess up – you have to do something about it yourself.

And that starts with a big result against Edinburgh on Friday.