A faultless kicking display from Ruan Pienaar. (Picture from rugbypicture.co.uk)
After their disappointing, and narrow, defeat to the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium last Friday, the Ulster team were bolstered by the return of Irish Internationals Andrew Trimble, Paddy Wallace and Tom Court. Yet they struggled to contain their Welsh opponents and after a difficult 80 minutes the Ulstermen managed to scrape an equally narrow victory.
The Scarlets were the stronger team from kick off but after their number eight failed to release from the tackle, Ulster were the first to get the points on board through a Ruan Pienaar penalty on three minutes. Scarlets 0 Ulster 3.
A Scarlets line-out was stolen by Chris Henry on six minutes, before offloading to Pienaar who broke through the Scarlets defence. He was stopped just metres from the try-line and his pass was knocked forward. However the scrum-half did add a further three points to his tally just before the ten minute mark after prop Iestyn Thomas failed to bind in the scrum. Scarlets 0 Ulster 6.
Scarlets fly-half Rhys Priestland had the chance to lessen the points’ gap two minutes later with a penalty of his own however, after Ulster’s Adam D’Arcy was penalised for not rolling away. On the fifteen minute mark, the scores were 6-apiece after Priestland slotted over his second penalty. Scarlets 6 Ulster 6.
An unforced error from Henry at the start of the second quarter allowed the Scarlets to drive towards Ulster’s 22. After being penalised on three occasions for wheeling the scrum, referee Andy MacPherson awarded the home side a penalty try. Priestland successfully converted, taking the score to Scarlets 13 Ulster 6.
Three minutes later, on 26 minutes, Pienaar stepped up to the posts again after a Scarlets infringement and landed his third kick of the night. Scarlets 13 Ulster 9.
Solid attacking from the home side brought them ever closer into Ulster’s half but the Ulstermen defended well and kept the opposition at bay. As a result, the Scarlets were unable to penetrate through Ulster’s defence, forcing Priestland to opt for a drop goal on 38 minutes. Scarlets 16 Ulster 9.
An offside infringement from the Scarlets on 46 minutes provided Pienaar the perfect opportunity to tighten the points’ gap by three more points. Scarlets 16 Ulster 12.
Sixty minutes played and it was the next scoring opportunity for the Ulster side after another infringement from the Scarlets. Pienaar continued his 100% kicking rate to bring his side within one point of the opposition. Scarlets 16 Ulster 15.
Scarlets continued to pile the pressure onto the Ulstermen and as Ulster desperately tried to make their way towards the hosts’ 22 and allow Pienaar to fall back for a potential drop goal, the Scarlets were awarded the penalty.
They took it quick and ran the clock down before being caught offside by the referee. With no time to kick into touch and take the subsequent line-out, Pienaar had no choice but to opt for the posts – 55m out – and hope it would seal a narrow victory for his side.
The scrum-half showed fantastic nerve and perfectly landed his kick to win the game and bring his side ever closer to a top-four finish.
Full-time score: Scarlets 16 Ulster 18
Thoughts on the game?
A much-needed win for the Ulster side and a step closer to their aims of claiming a top-four finish.. but it was an ugly win, and if I’m honest, Ulster were lucky not to come away with a massive loss.
For Ulster to win away in Wales (the first against Llanelli) it will – or should have – restored their confidence after last weeks’ defeat to the Ospreys and it is another ‘monkey off their backs’ as Brian McLaughlin puts it.
Personally, I thought Andi Kyriacou had a good game last night despite not being a regular starter this season and if he continues in form, will bring great competition for Nigel and Rory when he returns from Ireland duty.
Spence, again, had a brilliant game and put in some massive hits on the Scarlets’ players. It was also good to see Gilroy back with the senior team and made a few good lines and breaks through the oppositions’ defence.
Paddy Jackson made his debut for Ulster last night and I thought he had a pretty decent game. Obviously he doesn’t have the experience Ian Humphreys or Pienaar have behind them, but he did well in a game which wasn’t overly exciting.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for the Internationals who, in my humble opinion, were accountable for a majority of the mistakes in the match and if Ulster’s HC quarter-final was to be played next weekend instead of April, none of the Irish guys stood out for selection.
Finishing on a positive note however, as the final whistle went at Llanelli I watched with interest as Ulster celebrated their win, and it was nice to see just how much the victory meant to them – even if was ugly, and of the narrowest margins.
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4 Responses to “Magners League: Scarlets 16 Ulster 18”
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I thought I heard the welsh booing at the end – if so were they booing the Scarlets or the referee ?
If the Scarlets I think their judement to be harsh the conditions just did not suit the type of game both sides wanted to play –fast open rugby. and truth told Priestlands penalty miss was the difference between winning and losing for the Scarlets.
If the referee then I think they too quickly forgot the referee had awarded them a penalty try based on at least two scrums brought down by the Scarlets props applying the old elbow bend ( illegal binding ) ( It was an experienced Scarlets front row –first push the
opposition back then twist bringing the opposition (Ulsters ) props shoulder down and in — drops the scrum everytime.
Jackson had a good start a nice couple of near darts through the a gap and Pienaar didn’t really help much as the weather affected the quality of his pass which occasionally was high and taken standing still requiring ajustment before passing to the centres.
It definitely was not a game that any real or lasting conclusions about players form could be
assessed.
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Just watched the game after a weekend away.
Well done team !!! An away win in horrible monsoon conditions, in the back of beyond is no mean feat. About time we had a slice of good fortune.
Now ….. about the conundrum that is Andi Kyriacou. He gets only his 2nd start of the season (and most of his appearances have been cameo i.e. the odd few minutes) and yet, he puts in a very solid and mature performance. 100% darts, gave the scrum a solid foundation, tackled like a demon in defense and very fast in the loose in support of our attacks. In summary, he was all over the place, very hungry and totally committed to the cause.
So this begs the question ….. why has he been locked out all season ???
On this performance, it’s a no brainer that he is our best hooker and if Management are selecting on performance alone, he deserves another start on Friday.
It’s no secret that the more you play, the better you get, so c’mon Ulster get behind The Greek and let’s see more of him.
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And another thing …. the after-match punters are a joke (imho).
No mention of Kyri’s considerable contribution ,,,,, yet Brady is ‘bigged up’ for coming off the ‘strength in depth’ bench.
Laughable !
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Not the prettiest of games that i’ve watched but one that overall we came away with the win after a tremendous 55m kick from Ruan Pienaar. Superb kicking performance from Ruan.
Re Andi K – he was very effective during his spell on the pitch as Planet Ulster has already mentioned – 100% with the line throws and great defence in the loose.
The Scarlets werevery fortunate to be awarder the pen try asthe reverse angle showed quite clearly that their prop lost his binding and pulled away Courts arm…… one has to ask where was the touchjudge and what was he looking at not to spot this…… Court spoke to the ref later on in the game re this ‘binding’ on his arm and Ulster were awarded 2 penalties at the next 2 scrums !!!
Jackson had a decent match made a couple of breaks some good tackles and was reasonably well protected by the senior players. All in all a good debut from the youngster.
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