Biarritz break Ulster hearts

As the Ulster fans traipsed out of the stadium it was with a heavy heart after their side failed to achieve any of their targets. They lost out on the bonus point and allowed the home side to run in 4 tries. Three of those tries were scored in the first quarter that sent a sleepy Ulster reeling almost into oblivion and back again and Biarritz always looked comfortable from then on. Many of us were grateful that it was not more. This was the stuff for big boys and to be honest Ulster looked out of place not being able to get their hands on the ball. Ulster failed yet again to deal with a shallow restart and fluffed any solidness in the opening before Campbell put in a speculative kick for Bowe to chance which was well fielded, but the Ulster played did not ground the catcher and the big French pack opened their cheque book, rumbled down the pitch before opening it out, a missed tackle by Maggs and the home side right wing to dander in for the first score.

However right from the kick off Ulster were more aggressive, looking to atone for their earlier sins, winning good, quick ball only to be spoiled by a poor pass from David Humphries to Andrew Trimble when the referee Nigel Whitehouse awarded a penalty against Ulster. From the ensuing move the huge Romanian prop barged his way past a high tackling Simon best to score. It was all happening as Ulster decided to take a bit more of the game to the home side that needlessly infringed for Humphries to slot over the penalty and it was Biarritz 10 Ulster 3. There was only 10 minutes gone and it looked as if it was going to be a very, very long afternoon. Ulster looked dangerous with the ball in hand always moving the big Biarritz pack about the pitch but the trouble was there was not enough ball available. The home side were containing the ball and looked to be a league ahead in terms of physical conditioning and individual skills. Yachvilli was pulling the strings in what proved to be a brilliant individual performance. His kicking throughout ripped the Ulster defence to pieces bit by bit.

When they attacked and that was for most of the game Biarritz looked very ominous but were vulnerable under pressure to knocking on but recycled the ball well, time and time again moving it wide and gaining 5 meters every time in contact as they were able to stay on their feet and off load to one of several runners sapping the energy out of the cover defence which would sooner or later take its toll. Ulster were playing their part in the to and fro of the game always threatening through Trimble and some excellent running by Humphries linking up well with the rest of his backs and always being supported by the pack who believed in themselves, never giving up no matter how far in front Biarritz were. Biarritz scored their third try and it looked as if Ulster might as well pack up and go home with the score Biarritz 17 Ulster 3 with only 15 minutes of the first half gone. The omens were not good for Ulster. But the ace in the Ulster pack once again proved to be the pack starved of any possession started to disrupt the Biarritz flow and demonstrated that they could take this mighty home side on. This they did when Neil Best, who else?, powered his way over from close in after the Ulster pack worked well in the line out and drove over. It was a brave and heroic battling performance from the visitors realising that they could take this immense pack on up front. Then Humphries kicked a penalty to bring Ulster to within a score after 25 minutes in a free scoring first half that was far from finished.

©INPHO/Andrew Paton

The difficult thing about playing catch up is you are doing just that and need to take chances to remain in touch, which is fair enough but against a team of this quality you cannot afford to force the pass, or drop the ball, or go into contact unsupported otherwise you will be severely punished. The pressure on Ulster was huge before the French crossed the line again only this time illegally thanks to a double movement and Ulster lived to fight another day. However the pressure was too much as from a break out by McMillan he knocked the ball forward and in the ensuing play Ulster were penalised going in at half time Biarritz 20 Ulster 11.

The first half was something that had to be seen to be believed in terms of individual Gallic flare and endeavour and but for bravery Ulster were all but out dead and buried. No one told Ulster that they should have given up at this stage, as they were here to do more than make up numbers and immediately set to tackling the Biarritz defence. In-roads were made into the opposition defence with Ulster looking good, despite the odd Humphries missed touch, and Cunningham giving possession away cheaply, it was a decent Ulster opening. The pack worked hard giving the backs good possession that they were not afraid to use. They attacked the spaces with a certainty and a conviction that belied their position at the start of the game. Once again the lineout was used as the base for forward attacks and once again it proved to be a great success with Simon Best crashing over for a try to give hope and add to a remarkable comeback. The score was poised at Biarritz 20 Ulster 16 and Humphries has missed 2 conversions.

Humphries and Yachvilli traded penalties to leave the score Biarritz 23 Ulster 19 with ten minutes to go. Life looked a lot better than the 14-point deficit at the start. Ulster were pressing at every opportunity and a Humphries penalty was scant reward for wonderful play by the Ulstermen. But it all looked a bit much for the Ulstermen. Roger Wilson was storming as was Rory Best and Justin Harrison but that Biarritz line was well defended by the home side. Alas Ulster pressed well and were awarded a scrum 5 meters out. The pack retreated, Wilson broke, Yachvilli stole the ball from the second row and the line was cleared. For my money the ball did not go beyond the second row but play quickly moved up field in a typically free flowing French move for Bowe to attempt the intercept but the quicker thinking French picked up and went over for the crucial converted score with 7 minutes of normal time remaining.This put daylight between the two combatants. This was another moment of controversy as the Ulster defence stopped flat noticeably Kevin Maggs and looked at the referee. There had been the audible pitch of a whistle heard. From whence it came is uncertain but the net result was that the game was seemingly out of reach.

©INPHO/Andrew Paton

But Ulster had other ideas as they launched salvo after salvo at the French defences. With a penalty 45 meters out Humphries decided to have a go with 7 minutes of injury time on the clock. The kick was rushed and was not even close. Anyway the 3 points were not much use to us by this stage as Ulster had to go for broke and wise counsel might have urged for a line kick to be the better option leaving the rest to the mean machine that was known to be the Ulster pack. But Ulster were then turned over a few times from the drop out for Biarritz to score the final score with a drop goal to make the score for evermore Biarritz 33:19 Ulster.

No doubt the kings of spin will be on the job saying that Ulster can take a lot out of this game and indeed they can there is no doubt of that. Take the first devastating 15 minutes out of the game and you have a decent performance and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Ulster front 8 are as good as anything out there. Some poor decisions and possession easily given away proved to be the downfall. Andrew Trimble showed he is ready for the world stage while Tommy Bowe was good and David Humphries can still produce world-class performances. But the Biarritz muscle and their ball retention as well as the magnificent Yachvilli were just too strong in the end as Ulster tired noticeably in the last 5 or so minutes being turned over too readily. But let us not be too despondent as it hardly means the end of the season but a bonus point would have been just reward for a brave performance by noticeably the Ulster forwards who can now mix it with anybody.