Sometimes even a Ferris isn't enough! Picture Darren Kidd | Press Eye.
It looks like I’m out of sync with general opinion again this week!
Last week I wasn’t overly impressed with Ulster’s win against Clermont and this week I thought they put in a much better performance against a well drilled and powerful Leicester side.
Yesterdays game was played at a whole different level and Ulster were in no way found wanting, playing with much more power, pace and precision than they have done in previous weeks.
OK, there were a few individual errors, that crucially made the difference at the end of the day, but it was a much improved team effort, something that Ulster can use to kick on from for the rest of the season.
It was a bish, bash, boff of a first half with both sides smashing into each other with much gusto. Ulster’s took the lead through a Humphreys Howitzer but with defences dominating it was a succession of penalties that troubled the scoreboard with Leicester playing catch up, through Flood, to end the half 9 – 9.
Gilroy looked as though he had broken through mid way through the first half, only to be called back for a non existent forward pass and the massive Tuilagi bounced his way along towards the try line only to be stopped by Humphreys and Marshall.
For both sides the key components were functioning well with Ulster overcoming a few issues in the scrum to remain competitive, and both sets of line outs were textbook in their execution.
Leicester went ahead early in the second with a fourth Flood penalty and Ulster responded with their best period of play, with Darren Cave to the fore throughout the series of attacking phases, but unfortunately the visitors were unable to make the pressure count with Humphreys missing a fairly simple kick to level the score.
The miss let Leicester off the hook and they countered with renewed exuberance. Ulster stood firm with some excellent defensive work , with Best outstanding, and looked to have cleared the danger when they were awarded a penalty. Unfortunately Humphreys failed to find touch with his overoptimistic effort and the home team rebuilt their attack, this time ending with a score in the corner from a Flood grubber with just over ten minutes remaining.
Such was the intensity of the game that a ten point lead looked a massive hurdle for Ulster, but they stuck to their task hoping for a least a losing bonus. However the script for this game had been written in the team selection and with Ulster’s powerful back row being matched by an equally powerful Leicester one they failed to find that vital cutting edge to get back in the game.
Leicester added a little glitter to their result with Flood banging over another penalty with the final kick, the game ending Leicester 20 Ulster 9.
| TEAM DETAILS |
Ulster: (15 -1) Simon Danielli, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Nevin Spence, Craig Gilroy, Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall, Tom Court, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller (capt), Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg. Subs: Nigel Brady, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Louis Stevenson, Willie Faloon, Ian Porter, Patrick Jackson, Adam D’Arcy.
Leicester (15-9): Geordan Murphy (c), Horacio Agulla, Matt Smith, Andy Forsyth, Alesana Tuilagi, Toby Flood, Sam Harrison. (1-8): Marcos Ayerza, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Geoff Parling, Tom Croft, Julian Salvi, Thomas Waldrom. (16-23): Rob Hawkins, Boris Stankovich, Martin Castrogiovanni, George Skivington, Steve Mafi, Ben Youngs, Jeremy Staunton, Niall Morris
Att: 21,473
| THE FRONT ROW REVIEW |
I must admit that yesterday I expected Ulster’s backs to have a bit more of a cutting edge and for Ulster’s back row to be slightly more dominant in this game but in fairness the failure was largely down to Leicester performing better than I expected rather than any particular Ulster deficiency that let this one get away. Of course there were individual errors, from both sides, but in a game of this intensity that has to be expected.
In fact, such was the intensity that both sides were largely allowed to play marginally offside cutting down midfield space and nullifying any edge Ulster may have had in this department.
Over the last two games Ulster have shown that they can match the powerhouses of European Rugby up front, playing like for like, but in both these game it has been individual mistakes that have proved the difference, rather than individual brilliance or superior tactics, and if Ulster continue to play with a back row featuring three carriers then results against the bigger teams are going to remain a lottery. Take Ferris, or the fantastic Best, who compensates for so many back row deficiencies, out of the equation and then the results will be alarmingly one sided.
This game was important in that Ulster did get their Mojo back, playing as a team rather than as individuals, and while it would be easy to point to individual errors as the turning point of the game I’d tend to disagree and as I said in the report the script for this game was written in the initial team selection, or more importantly in the selection of the back row. With the back row matched in the physical stakes we were a fairly toothless animal in attack.
For a long time I’ve been crusading for a back row built round Faloon and Diack, and while Diack has went backwards of late, I still think that these two, or players like them, are where Ulster’s future lies. Instead of taking on the big guns, or more correctly nullifying the big guns, up front, Ulster should look to move the ball away from the breakdown and in the likes of Faloon and Diack, and in the trickle of back row youngsters coming through the Academy, we have intelligent ball handling players capable of moving the point of attack.
It’s a big change, but Ulster need to develop their forward game and play more heads up rugby or else we are consigning ourselves to relying on the disappearing knees of Stephen Ferris and the open chequebook temptation of big Southern Hemisphere bruisers.
As we saw yesterday, and last week for that matter, punching the ball up the middle is going to get little change out of the likes of Leicester and Clermont and in Leicester’s case it’s the game they play week in week out. We’ve thrown the dice and gambled that our back row bruisers would get us through the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup, but we are not where we want to be and it’s hard to see where we are going to pick up the extra points. Time to start building for next year and lets see a bit of imagination!
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One Response to “Heineken Cup: Leicester 20 Ulster 9”
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From your summation it would appear the fault lies with the back row against a Leicester side who drown the ball at the breakdown size was an important factor, The go to first forward was Ferris who carried effectively with Wannenburg and Henry featuring as defensive muscle against a large leicester backrow and the one the one paced tank.
Ulster’s failure on the day was a total lack of creative back play which was based on flat pass mid field attack using either Trimble or Spence against a well populated backline enhanced with backrow forwards. The Ulster attack was far to predictable with the wings never being given an opportunity to attack wide in space .
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