Even though he dropped that initial pass
early on from Darren Cave when he was clean through, you just knew the night
would end on a high note for the returning winger and whenever he took that
pass from Pienaar and scored the first try you could sense not just the
happiness around Ravenhill, but also the relief. Bowe was back.
It was rather fitting that Bowe would score
twice on his return, even though he only played the pre-determined forty
minutes, and even more fitting that the two tries would be polar opposites of
each other, yet equally as remarkable, as Bowe showed a combination of power,
evasiveness and strength to get his two scores.
In fact, rather fittingly it was in front of
the nearly completed grandstand too. The last time Bowe played at Ravenhill
there was only a third of the steelwork up and hosting a Heineken Cup
quarter-final there was but a dream. Now there are only five weeks left until
the game against Saracens and Bowe is back at just the right time. With the
grandstand looking good and ready to hold another 4,000 Ulstermen on April 5th,
things are looking up for Ulster.
As for Bowe, he’s played his way back into
Ireland contention, albeit this Six Nations campaign may be one too early for
him. Nevertheless, whatever he says in the media, Bowe will undoubtedly be
delighted at how his first-half cameo went and he will be champing at the bit to
get back on the pitch and show Joe Schmidt what he’s been missing on the wing.
Trimble and Dave Kearney are good, but in just forty minutes Bowe proved that
he’s a step above both of them.
He still has to work his way back into the
Ulster team though. Friday’s start was courtesy of the drop in form of both
Michael Allen and Craig Gilroy, and if Andrew Trimble was still at Mark
Anscombe’s disposal then Bowe might have had to settle for a spot on the bench
behind Trimble and the increasingly impressive Rory Scholes who was superb
until his substitution due to injury, proof of yet another winger with
potential at Ravenhill.
So while Bowe was proving to be a proven,
talented player returning from injury, Scholes was an unproven, young player
with a lot to prove on his first start for the province, and boy did he take
his chance. He showed a range of skills from strength to searing pace and did
not look out of place. He was actually extremely unlucky not to score a try of
his own, although that will no doubt come sooner rather than later.
Speaking of young players making a successful
impact, it was refreshing to see Stuart McCloskey given a chance completely out
of the blue. Having not even been in a matchday squad before for Ulster, he
played a leading role in the win, and like Scholes he didn’t look out of place
and was one of Ulster’s more impressive players on Friday night. For a while
now I have been advocating for Mark Anscombe to start blooding a few more
youngsters, and his idea to do so has been vindicated. McCloskey and Scholes
deserve to start against the Scarlets.
On the other hand, Michael Allen and Craig
Gilroy must have watched the game with gritted teeth as their replacements
excelled in everything they did. For Gilroy, his “fall” (if it can be called
that) has been incredible. From starting winger for Ireland in last season’s
Six Nations he has now been dropped for his province and is looking like having
an uphill battle to get back into the team again.
But anyway, there’s not too much to criticise
from an Ulster perspective this week. Five tries, five points and with a game
in hand over Leinster and Munster above us, maybe the top two isn’t actually as
elusive as it looks, especially with all the top teams still having to play
each other in the last few weeks of the season.
It will be an intriguing run in. Ulster now
have a week’s break before we play a game a week until the end of the season
(knockout games permitting). We’re now at the stage of the season where the
games come thick and fast, and if we don’t win every game from here on in then
it could be another trophyless season for us, and with Mark Anscombe only on a
one-year deal that could be detrimental to his hopes of a second contract
extension.
And after that depressing paragraph, I’m
done!
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