Ulster for the next one
Even as I sat in the comfort of my living room with a bizarrely soundless Setanta and Gusher and Ryan Constable as company, the sense of disappointment as 7,000 or so soaked Ulster fans drifted away from Ravenhill was palpable. All of the positive talk about squad unity and about progress was forgotten amongst embarrassing statistics of missed tackles and basic handling errors.
Perhaps one could be forgiven for thinking that nothing has changed over the long summer months but is that really fair? Ulster kept going until the very last moments, trying to find a way to steal a draw. They kept it together long enough to at least take a losing bonus point, which stands in glaring contrast to the often late capitulations we saw last season. Perhaps we are clutching at straws here but it has been said that Ulster are on a 36-month improvement plan.
There are more positives, of course. Apart from Darren Daniel’s try, Ulster’s try line never really looked in danger. Despite the number of missed tackles, defence around the fringes was strong and the impact that honorary Ulsterman Brendan ‘BJ’ Botha had on the scrum showed exactly the kind of anchor we can expect for the rest of the season. Clinton Schifcofske may well be disappointed with his goal kicking return but his positioning and kicking from hand seemed almost impeccable, while Robbie Diack played with exactly the kind of passion that is all Ulster fans ask of anyone that pulls on the white shirt.
The trouble is that despite these scant positives, Ulster still lost a match that most on this side of the Irish Sea thought was an almost guaranteed four points. With all the positive talk and optimism coming from the camp in pre-season, something obviously went drastically wrong.
We have to face the fact that Ulster are not going to turn into a world beating team over night. That doesn’t mean, of course, that things don’t need to change for this coming Friday’s visit to the Arms Park. The statistic about missed tackles is a cause for concern, especially given how fragile and disparate the defensive line looked the moment the Scarlets shifted the ball wide but the continuum of basic handling errors, even in the conditions and the complete impotence of the attack are much more symptomatic of the problems that Ulster may face in this coming season.
Traditionally, defence has not been Ulster’s major problem in this league. In the seasons since the major structural changes in Wales, Ulster have twice boasted the meanest defence in the Magners League, while being ever-present as a top four defensive until last season’s debacle. Ulster’s fundamental problems have been scoring, not conceding and it is worrying that another season has begun with an attack looking so impotent.
Individually, there were a number of disappointments on Friday night. Timoci Nagusa, or Jim as he likes to be known failed to set the world alight but shouldn’t be judged too harshly for his efforts – the poor lad has probably never even seen, let alone played in the kind of weather that broke over Ravenhill on Friday.
Andrew Trimble, similarly, shouldn’t be tarred with the same brush as others. He looked every bit a player who is still on the recovery road. The fact is that he was so short of match fitness that he shouldn’t have been in the starting team, let alone playing in a position where he hasn’t played for Ulster since March 2007; a time period that accounts for some 25 of his Ulster caps. This is not to mention, of course, that Trimble had never before played as a winger with the other four players making up Ulster’s back five on Friday night.
Kieron Dawson and Isaac Boss have fewer excuses. Dawson gave away needless penalties that allowed the Scarlets to stretch their lead at crucial moments, while Boss continually allowed the Scarlets’ defensive line to reform before even placing his hands on the ball. With Pollock and Willis waiting in reserve, Matt Williams need to look particularly strongly at these selections.
Paddy Wallace again failed to control the game from outhalf, but made an impact from 12, with Niall O’Connor making his own noticeable impact for the last 7 minutes or so and playing his way into the starting shirt. The impact made by O’Connor at 10 and Wallace at 12 is made all the more apparent by how predictable Ulster’s attack was up until the change.
Rob Dewey still has time to prove his worth to Ulster but did not offer enough variation coming onto the ball as a first receiver on Friday night to be considered at 12. Paddy Wallace is by far the most effective inside centre in Ulster right now and with Trimble lacking in fitness, the subtleties so often ignored in Dewey’s game should come into play at 13. Darren Cave may not deserve to be dropped but it’s hard to find justification for his inclusion ahead of Dewey or Wallace, although with Wallace and O’Connor already on the park, Cave, along with Trimble, take the bench spots, while Mark McCrea should come in on the left wing as the only available option.
In the front row, Bryan Young should come in for Justin Fitzpatrick who showed on Friday that he may no longer be an 80 minute man. Similarly, Caldwell’s presence on the ball should see him starting in the second row, along with Ed O’Donoghue who, while unspectacular, deserves to retain the shirt. With questions still remaining over Matt McCullough’s pace in the back row, a fit Stephen Ferris is a must to start at blindside, with Diack and Pollock completing the backrow.
The Archipelago’s selection:
15. Clinton Schifcofske
14. Timoci Nagusa
13. Rob Dewey
12. Paddy Wallace
11. Mark McCrea
10. Niall O’Connor
9. Cillian Willis
1. Bryan Young
2. Rory Best
3. BJ Botha
4. Ed O’Donoghue
5. Ryan Caldwell
6. Stephen Ferris
7. David Pollock
8: Robbie Diack
Replacements:
16. Nigel Brady
17. Tom Court
18. Carlo Del Fava
19. Matt McCullough
20. Paul Marshall
21. Andrew Trimble
22. Darren Cave
The Archipelago
