And in a way he has something of a point. No more than five years ago
Ulster would have been languishing amongst the basement dwellers of the Celtic
League, unable to capitalise on promising positions they held in games. Quite
frustratingly, it was a common trait of Ulster teams back then to start
promisingly, provide the Ravenhill crowd with something to get hopeful about,
and then proceed to throw away their impressive position in the second half.
Friday was a welcome reminder that those days are very much gone.
Having seen a commanding fifteen point lead slashed to two in twenty second
half minutes, the writing was plastered all over the walls. Still the Ospreys
pressed, with fly-half Sam Davies in exceptional kicking form, and it looked
like a score of some sort was inevitable, especially with the Welsh side’s
driving maul ominously powerful.
Yet somehow Ulster held out and managed to flip the Ospreys’ momentum
around completely and deny them even a losing bonus point, and let’s not forget
how important that may prove to be in the grand scheme of things. A lot of
credit must be given to the players for overcoming the fact they were being
beaten 13-0 in the second half and plugging away to get that crucial late try.
It is a mark of where Ulster stand now. While the two Champions’ Cup
matches maybe didn’t go quite to plan, our Pro12 form has been slowly improving
and we now find ourselves unbeaten in four domestic games with the scalps of
both Glasgow and the Ospreys taken in that run. All games are now targeted as
winnable fixtures, and it is just reward for a good run of form that we find
ourselves joint top with the Ospreys at the top of the table.
Neil Doak will be fairly pleased with how his tenure at Ulster has
begun all things considered. Arguably the Champions’ Cup is beyond Ulster this
season so the main focus will be on the Pro12, and 30 points from 8 games isn’t
a bad return for the head coach. And he will be delighted with some of the gems
he has unearthed in Clive Ross and Sean Reidy in the back row, and Alan
O’Connor at lock too. If Doak is to lead his province to Pro12 glory then those
names will be just as important as the Bests and the Bowes.
That’s why he’ll be very glad with how his second fringe players coped
with the Ospreys who, it must be remembered, were unbeaten in the league before
Friday night and had already seen off Munster at Thomond Park – no mean feat at
all. Unfortunately that now means that the Ulstermen have a target on their
backs that everyone is going for, and with trips to Munster, the Ospreys
(again!) and Leinster three of Ulster’s next four league games that target will
be under heavy fire.
However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With big games comes
heightened intensity and heightened focus and Ulster will need both of those
virtues in abundance over the coming weeks. Any sort of slip in focus and
Ulster could find themselves back down in mid-table region with a lot of ground
to make up in the final few games of the season or even over the next
international period in February.
Munster next, as the tough games just keep on coming.
Staking their claim
Nobody can now argue that Ireland are the form European side, and
undeniably the favourites to lead the northern hemisphere charge for the World
Cup next summer.
Where Wales failed and where England failed, Ireland have succeeded
this autumn in completing a clean sweep of victories over their southern
hemisphere counterparts and have leapt up into third in the latest world
rankings – no more than they deserve for controlling the tie against the
Springboks and then managing a gritty three point win over the Wallabies at the
weekend.
How they won is not the main focus point. Against Michael Cheika’s
side it was always going to be a loose game, and once the Irish had fallen into
the trap of allowing it to be so then they were on the back foot. But all
credit to Ireland, in the second half they tightened up considerably and, led
admirably by Paul O’Connell, they managed a third victory of the Autumn Series
and firmly established themselves as a challenger to the World Champions next
October.
Notably however, the All Blacks have not yet been conquered…
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