Ryan Bailey reports from Kingspan Stadium
THIS WAS THE shot in the arm Ulster’s up-and-down season desperately required after back-to-back inter-pro defeats, and while they were wasteful for large tracts of their Heineken Champions Cup opener, the northern province delivered a confidence-boosting victory.
Dan McFarland’s side dominated in both the possession and territory stakes against a stubborn Leicester Tigers outfit, but were kept scoreless in a frustrating first period which lacked any real quality or structure in brutal Belfast conditions.
But through big shifts from the likes of Rory Best, Iain Henderson, the consistently excellent John Cooney and lively Will Addison, Ulster found a solution at half-time and were much-improved after the break, scoring three tries to pull clear for a crucial Pool 4 win.
Ulster even pressed for a late bonus-point but their quest for an unlikely fifth point fell short in the dying embers, with McFarland having to settle for the four heading to Paris next week for a clash with Racing 92.
After this win, Ulster will at least travel with a degree of pressure off and a semblance of confidence thanks to the way they persevered here and their forwards rebounded to provide front-foot ball for Cooney and Burns to pull the strings.
“I am pleased with the result obviously, I thought the lads put in a great effort this evening and we have improved in a number of areas,” McFarland said post-match.
“There are a couple of areas that we need to improve more on as well. But yeah pleased with the result. I still think we have to improve in the opposition 22. I think we turned the ball over nine times in their 22 in the first half.
“That tells you two things, one we are doing something right, and two we are doing something very wrong. That is something we have to improve on.”
To their credit, Ulster didn’t lose their patience or discipline after a combination of unforced errors and Leicester’s aggressive defensive effort had kept them scoreless.
The hosts turned down a number of shots at goal to kick for the corner, and in having 19 lineouts in Tigers territory, eventually made their pressure pay by seizing the key moments through Alan O’Connor, Addison and the prolific Jacob Stockdale.
With their tails up and the near-capacity crowd feeding of Ulster’s energy on the pitch, thoughts even turned to snatching a crucial bonus point, although McFarland wasn’t overly disappointed in his immediate appraisal.
“I am a glass half full person, so I will take the four points and I will have a tiny little bit of froth on my glass half full that is disappointed,” he added.
As for Geordan Murphy and Leicester, it was another miserable trip to Kingspan Stadium, where they have now lost all five of their European encounters with this latest defeat leaving them with another mountain to climb in Pool 4.
The Premiership outfit held a narrow 3-0 half-time advantage and were resolute in their defensive work but their indiscipline — they conceded 16 penalties — eventually told as Ulster showed their clinical edge.
“I thought our first half was pretty controlled, obviously we had to do a lot of defending but defended really well on our own goal-line,” the Irish head coach said.
“At half-time, I thought we were in a really strong position and certainly felt watching our guys coming up the tunnel we were fresher and could really add something in the second half. Unfortunately we came out and started really, really poorly.
“The conditions closed in, they played smart rugby, put the ball in behind us and killed the game. On the night, Ulster were better at executing in our 22 than we were. I think we turned the ball over three or four times in Ulster’s 22 which isn’t good enough.”
With Scarlets — beaten by Racing in Wales tonight — visiting Welford Road next Friday, Murphy admits his side are already in must-win territory.
“I think it is a must-win game. Scarlets having lost at home, they’ll want to pick up some points away from home and if we lose it makes it very, very difficult.
“I know Scarlets played knock-out last season having lost their first two games, but I think the group we’re in that will be very difficult [to advance with two defeats].”
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