And boy
did the men in white leave it late. It could have been very different…
Four tries and five points
Before I
begin my analysis, I would like to point out that I did predict this scoreline
on Thursday. If you don’t believe me, go back and check!
No better
way to start your Heineken Cup campaign, eh? Well, we could have made the game
a bit easier on ourselves by scoring the fourth try a bit earlier in the game.
But I suppose the main thing is we got that try, we got five points on the
board and we’ve firmly put the pressure on the other three sides.
That said,
we got an immense amount of luck. With the clock in the red zone and nothing
left to play for, Castres decided they wanted to run the ball (for reasons only
known to them). Marcel Garvey nearly scored to justify this decision, but
instead, the ball was turned over and after a quick break, Ulster had set the
ball down under the posts.
While it’s
nice to reflect on a bonus point win, Ulster will go back to Newforge on Monday
and say to themselves, “This could have gone very badly wrong.” Because it so
very nearly could have.
Castres
made life very difficult for us. In the end, it probably was our own doing that
nearly lost the BP for us, but Castres had their part to play. Their defence
was good, their hard work at the breakdown made it hard for us to get quick
ball and in general they caused us problems.
They
weren’t great, no. They were there to be beaten and we did beat them. But I
thought they played well enough to avoid giving away the bonus point. They
shouldn’t have given away the bonus point actually, but that was their
decision.
Ulster
weren’t great either. Lots of errors, conceded penalties and overthrown
line-outs were just some of the things that contributed to their (almost)
downfall. Against any other team, that performance may not have been enough. Luckily
they came up against only a semi-strong Castres side.
But there
were a lot of positives Ulster can take and build on. Mainly, the quality they now
have in all positions. Henderson really proved that he is top class by putting
in a stellar performance at 6, while Paddy Jackson had yet another superb match
at fly-half and even Luke Marshall coming off the bench proved what great
prospects we have. The future of Ulster Rugby is in good hands.
Against an
equally, if not better scrum than their own, John Afoa, Tom Court and Rory Best
held their own and scrummaged strongly, showing that they can do it against the
very best. The majority of games are won in the forward battle – those three
will have to prepare for a big season.
Even
though we had to wait 80 minutes for our four tries, our attack did show signs
that they are close to clicking and when they do, opposing teams will have no
way of stopping them. Tommy Bowe demonstrated his ability under the high ball,
while Jared Payne again showed us what we missed last year with his quick line-breaks.
But what
Ulster showed above everything else was guts. To keep going, even beyond the 80
minutes, and get that last try was exactly what teams of the past would not do.
What that try could do for Ulster may be crucial. Whether they deserved it or
not doesn’t matter – they got it.
Bring on
Glasgow…
Pick of the week
So Round
One is done and dusted. Here’s my take on a hectic weekend of rugby…Game of the week – Saracens’ 45-0 demolishing of Edinburgh is worth a mention, as well as Northampton’s comeback against Glasgow, but game of the week goes to Leinster’s 9-6 win over Exeter. It was the most exciting game of the weekend, and at times during the game, you really believed Exeter could sneak it.
Team of the week – Again,
Exeter come close, as do Toulouse for their controlled victory over Leicester,
but the team of the week goes to Racing
Metro 92 for their remarkable win over Munster in Paris.
Try of the week – Gael Fickou
and Paul Marshall are contenders for their brilliant kick chases, but Eli Walker’s solo effort for the
Ospreys against Treviso was pure class.
Player of the week – Again,
Paul Marshall had a great game for Ulster, Richard Baxter was superb for Exeter
in Dublin, while Louis Picamoles controlled the game for Toulouse. However, the
player of the week goes to Olly Barkley of
Racing Metro 92 who kicked the Parisian side to a famous victory over Munster.
Loser(s) of the week – A few
winners here. Firstly Castres, who
decided it would be a great idea to continue on after the clock had gone red in
Belfast even though they had nothing to play for, just to concede a bonus point
try; Conor Murray for the number of
penalties he gave away in the Stade de France; Munster, who were very poor in general; Edinburgh for being turned over at home by Saracens; Glasgow, who, after taking a 15-0 lead,
conceded 4 tries and 24 unanswered points to return home from Northampton with
nothing; and Ben Youngs for taking a
quick tap penalty from in front of the posts in the second half of the Toulouse
v Leicester game. A successful kick would have taken the score to 14-12 and who
knows where it would have gone from there…
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