Stade are coming...

Just what the hell happened? For three weeks, The Archipelago wrote of positivity and improvement from the Ulster boys. I took the attitude that it was only a matter of time before Ulster found their way back to form and, soon after, winning ways. It shouldn’t take much to turn around narrow defeats into narrow victories, if only Ulster could get a little luck and find that little bit extra to hold onto the points.

The trouble is that despite all of the positivity that could be found in the first three games, everything fell apart in Swansea. This was much worse than just watching Ulster get a drubbing from a fitter, more skilful and more talented team. It brought back the horrendous memories of the start of last season. Almost everything that was wrong last season suddenly resurfaced and one was left to wonder just what had happened to the team of the previous three weeks. Is Ulster’s confidence really so fragile? It was obvious that heads dropped the moment the Ospreys went two scores up and from that position, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

Ulster never looked like scoring. In fact they never even looked like forcing the Ospreys into conceding kickable penalties. The defence was akin to a revolving door but worst of all was discipline. Even the frustration of being on the wrong end of a 43 – 0 drubbing does not justify three yellow cards in one game. The problems went much deeper than that, however and it is hard to instantly recall a worse Ulster performance than this. The 43 points that Ulster conceded constituted Ulster’s worst ever defensive performance in the Magners League, while the 43 point margin constituted Ulster’s worst defeat in all competitions since losing 56-3 to Wasps in September 1997 and the second worst Ulster result in the professional era. The most worrying thing is, however, that it the score could have been so much worse.

Only the return of Paul Steinmetz to the Ulster midfield offered any kind of solace – ultimately, it was Steinmetz who made the two most notable contributions to Ulster’s cause in this game; his fantastic track-back tackle to prevent a certain try, even when the game was dead and buried and the only clean line break Ulster managed in the whole game, on 79 minutes are hardly highlights but they were the best that Ulster managed throughout the 80 minutes.

Against Edinburgh, too, Steinmetz made the most telling contribution, with a little help from Tom Court. Just as Edinburgh looked about to score a try that would have reversed the result, Steinmetz again popped up just in time and it showed exactly the kind of leadership and game reading ability that has been missing in Ulster’s midfield. The return of Ferris, too, added a particular emphasis to the Ulster backrow that had been missing but it was in the exceptional balance of the backrow that the greatest move forward was to be found. The forwards, again, showed what they were capable of and it would be a fool’s errand to start messing with a unit that has been effective four times out of five this season.

Solving the backline issue is another matter, entirely – the outside backs, especially, failed to click once more in attack and it’s difficult to see exactly how these backs are going to the necessary damage but it’s also hard to see where changes can really be made. Teams with less talented kickers than Hernandez have already targeted Nagusa’s fragility under the high ball and it could leave Ulster hideously exposed, so starting Cunningham at fullback and Schifcofske on the wing is again the best option. The final member of the back three is another matter entirely – Steinmetz and Trimble sharing the midfield roles has an edge about it but with no one to fill the vacant left wing, may not be realised, at least until Simon Danielli returns from injury. Moving Isaac Boss to the wing is another option that allows Trimble and Steinmetz to operate in the midfield but is the opening game of the Heineken Cup against Stade Francais really the right time for this sort of experimentation?

The Archipelago’s Choices:

15. Bryn Cunningham
14. Clinton Schifcofske
13. Paul Steinmetz
12. Paddy Wallace
11. Andrew Trimble
10. Niall O’Connor
9. Isaac Boss

1. Tom Court
2. Rory Best
3. BJ Botha
4. Ed O’Donoghue
5. Ryan Caldwell
6. Stephen Ferris
7. David Pollock
8. Robbie Diack

16. Nigel Brady
17. Justin Fitzpatrick
18. Carlo Del Fava
19. Matt McCullough
20. Kieron Dawson
21. Cillian Willis
22. Timoci Nagusa / Rob Dewey

The Archipelago