Unfortunately
that was the case on Friday night (until the power came back on at the 60
minute mark) and therefore I can’t give much insight into the game this week.
You’re probably glad about that though!
Instead
I’ll look at the other games and how the double-headers will shape up in
December…
Still unbeaten – at a price
The main
point I take from our win is the fact we’re still unbeaten and we’ve come
through some tough ties to get there. On Friday night the weather was atrocious
and we had to slowly grind out the win, which we did.
Chris
Henry looked very good at the breakdown. With the Autumn Internationals coming
up soon, surely he would be worth the risk at 7, especially with Sean O’Brien’s
constant injury problems.
But the
game ended on a sour note. Johann Muller will be out for up to 8 weeks with a
hand injury and will miss Ulster’s next five RaboDirect PRO12 matches, and,
probably more importantly, their Heineken Cup double-header against
Northampton. It will be time for Lewis Stevenson to step up.
Clermont are the team to beat
I think
Clermont scored enough tries to make up for the lack of them in our game. After
a rather subdued first half against Exeter, the French giants sprang into life
in the second and ran in five tries to lead Pool 5 by two points from Leinster.
In
contrast, the defending champions spluttered to an unconvincing win over the
Scarlets in Wales, and look like a shadow of the side that have won the last
two Heineken Cups. Joe Schmidt’s side need to buck up their ideas or they may
find themselves heading to the Aviva match needing a big win just to stand any
chance of qualifying.
You feel
sorry for Exeter though. Some of their play was superb and they matched
Clermont blow for blow in the first half. But ultimately they didn’t have the
energy and talent to keep up and ended up on the wrong end of what can only be
described as a massacre.
Meanwhile,
Saracens have full control of Pool 1 despite failing to secure a try bonus
point against Racing Metro. Munster aren’t out of it though after crushing
struggling Edinburgh, but despite achieving a full quota of points, they still
don’t look completely convincing. Saracens will fancy their chances at sneaking
the win in Limerick come December.
Pool 2
looks wide open after Leicester’s great win against the Ospreys. Five points
makes up for them getting nothing last weekend and puts them right back in the
mix. After a scare in Treviso, Toulouse came away from Italy with the win and
kept themselves on top.
Toulon
proved their strength by winning in Cardiff, and showing the rest of Europe
that not all French sides throw the away matches to win the home ones. They
have taken full control of Pool 6. In fact, the other three sides may be
battling solely for second after Montpellier inflicted Sale’s first defeat of
the European season.
Pool 3
looks close too, although probably only for now. Biarritz’s win over Zebre
pushes them above Connacht who lost to Harlequins. Come the double-headers it
should be a different matter, and the top two should pull away. Connacht look
like they could cause a shock somewhere though.
December
seems too far away…
Pick of the week
And as
Round Two ends, what caught my eye this time…
Game of the week – Only one
choice here, Leicester’s win over the
Ospreys looked like it would go all the way to the wire and it did, only
not in the way we thought.
Team of the week – I’m
tempted to say Leicester again, but Clermont’s
cold-blooded destruction of Exeter in the second half at Sandy Park was simply
brilliant.
Try of the week –
Leicester scythed through the Ospreys defence all day and Manu Tuilagi’s first try was a classic backs move.
Player(s) of the week – This
week there weren’t many stand out performers, but Ben Youngs and Conor Murray both
did very well after criticism last weekend.
Losers of the week – There
isn’t any other relevant choice for this award. Won 0, lost 2, conceded 88
points, and scored 0. Edinburgh look
like a team in disarray.
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