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It was a night to remember for Ruan Pienaar, as not only did he make his hotly-anticipated debut for Ulster, but he also claimed all 19 points for his side in a hard-fought 19 – 17 win against the Glasgow Warriors.
A Glasgow infringement just a over a minute into the game, allowed scrum-half Pienaar his first chance to step forward for Ulster and take a long-range penalty, which strayed just wide of the posts.
Both teams continued to battle for possession and space, with neither side making much progress, until Glasgow fly-half Duncan Weir kicked a penalty of his own on the ten minute mark, to give the visitors an early lead. Ulster 0 – Glasgow 3.
A clearance kick from Glasgow just moments later silenced the Ravenhill crowd as Andrew Trimble misjudged the take, allowing it to land into the hands of Glasgow’s Van Der Merwe instead, who then sprinted down the field and touched down in the corner. Weir missed the conversion, leaving the Ulstermen trailing by eight points.
Pienaar had another penalty attempt on fifteen minutes – which successfully came off the post – to lessen the deficit to five points. However a further penalty against Glasgow, this time for coming in from the side, allowed Pienaar to slot over another accurate kick, taking the score to Ulster 6 – Glasgow 8.
Ulster put pressure on Glasgow from the restart as they progressed towards the opposition’s 22, and new signing Pienaar, continued his fantastic run of form when he received the ball from Rory Best and raced past Glasgow’s defense to score his first try for his new team. He successfully converted his own try and pushed Ulster into the lead: Ulster 13 – Glasgow 8.
Unfortunately this lead was lessened when Weir replied with another penalty just over the 30 minute mark, after missing a previous drop-goal attempt. The final play of the first half also went to Glasgow when a third successful penalty from Weir gave his side a narrow one-point lead at the interval. Ulster 13 – Glasgow 14.
As the second half started, Ulster gained the advantage with a Pienaar penalty, which hit the crossbar before bouncing up and through the posts. Weir, not wanting to be forgotten, struck a long range penalty from deep inside his own half, five minutes later to put his side forward once more. Ulster 16 – Glasgow 17.
Ulster were agonisingly close to Glasgow’s try line when a questionable tackle on Andrew Trimble, from Glasgow flanker Richie Vernon, saw the men in white awarded a penalty, which steered wide of the posts.
With just ten minutes of time remaining, Ulster kicked into the corner and although winning the lineout, Glasgow stepped up their defense and drove the Ulstermen back. Constant infringements from the Warriors, tested the referee’s patience one too many times, and Pienaar elected to kick. His attempt was successful and claimed back a lead for his side: Ulster 19 – Glasgow 17.
A final penalty from Pienaar bounced off the upright, leaving the score unchanged and as the clock wound down, neither Glasgow nor Ulster were able to add to their scores.
Full-Time score: Ulster 19 – Glasgow 17.
Thoughts on the game?
We have won four games and drawn one going into Europe, which is a fantastic achievement and something which will give the squad a major boost of confidence for the weeks ahead.
It was a much improved performance from the team (who were possibly quite lucky to escape with a draw against Connacht last week). Yet, there were still basic errors being made and too many easy points were being handed to the opposition.
Ruan Pienaar had a fantastic debut for Ulster, showing the Ravenhill faithful why he is a world class player, and deservedly won Man of the Match.
All in all, with the Heineken Cup just around the corner and with much more threat and potential to come from Ulster, things are looking exciting for the men in white.
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