Three to go, and all is fine and dandy

Four more points in the bag as the season reaches a climax the organisers of the League and the purveyors of Irish rugby could only dream about. It will go right down to the win with 3 Irish provinces fighting it out between them but with seemingly a two horse race developing between Leinster and Ulster as Ospreys beat Munster last night and with it their number one seeding amongst the Irish teams went to the wall. Mistakes made now and points dropped at this stage are catastrophic and gauged in Titanic proportions yet it could be down to an overthrow a scuffed kick or a few bad calls that ultimately may swing it towards Leinster, the side that seems to score tries at will. However the game that was feted as being the Celtic League Final, Leinster v Cardiff in the Millennium may well be conclusive but not in the sense that the Welsh press had hoped for as the beaus, the best team in Wales fell to Ulster at Ravenhill last night.

The challenge is still alive and kicking despite the best intentions of Cardiff who came to Ravenhill bent of taking the spoils and playing some good rugby in the process but ultimately let down by some serious indiscretion that took the shine of their fine performance. All that was good about Ulster emanated from the mercurial David Humphries and almost all that was not so good seemed to come from him as well. When the time was called for to screw the nut and screw the visitors to the wall by kicking to the corners and squeezing the last ounce of defiant Cardiff team. The ball was run from inside Ulster’s own half deep into the last quarter to McCullough who again broke the gain line and tried to offload a ball that was at best not on to his Captain who not surprisingly knocked it on for Cardiff to almost squeeze into the corner and heap more unnecessary pressure on Ulster. What it did show though was the spirit and character of the home side and brought out the determination and the grit needed to succeed in the knock out stages of the HEC. That willingness to die for the jersey and your mates was very evident in a few passages of frantic defence. Another two lapses saw Justin Harrison uncharacteristically think he was an outside centre and twice foolishly kick to allow the Ulster defence to show twice more why they are the best in the League. On both occasions Mark McCall banged his fist ferociously on his table from his vantage point in the stand. Ulster were well tired but not helping themselves in any way. Any good gambler will tell you that you have to know when to hold and you have to know when to fold. Ulster are very poor gamblers.

To beat the in form team of the League is by no means poor achievement if the method was not for the purists and the skills at times poorly executed but it does show that Ulster are capable of returning from hibernation and bounce straight into the fight albeit a little wobbly. For the first 15 minutes the ball was hardly in the mitts of an Ulster player except to concede a penalty. In this period the home side conceded 4 penalties and all but one being fair calls and the success rate of Macleod a reflection this to put his side into a 9 point lead before the sweat began to glisten on the players brows. The howling wind being to his advantage but Robinson appeared to ignore it as the main Cardiff thrusts came from the excellent Rush and his cohorts around the edge of the rucks, bullocking and charging into the brick wall of Neil Best and Stephen Ferris not to forget Roger Wilson. But against the run of play Isaac Boss charged down a kick to race 40 meters to be pulled down by Nicky Robinson a penalty try and ten minutes in the bin for his troubles. It was a brave decision by the referee but not unwarranted. Despite the gales Cardiff only found themselves ahead by two points. Ulster 10:12 Cardiff.

Despite a much-improved performance by Mr Ireland there is still inconsistency in his game but in fairness he did allow Ulster away with a lot as well. But the incident that sticks in most people’s minds was the savage attack on Paul Steinmetz by Molitika off the ball. Steinmetz went down prostrate not moving and the worst was feared. Thankfully the Kiwi is made of granite and was soon on his feet making Cardiff pay for their efforts. Minutes later from a lineout the same player did the same thing to Boss only to meet the full fury of the Ulster eight and an irate Tommy Bowe. Not the only moment of thuggery from Cardiff. The Welsh teams when they come to Ravenhill never disappoint in terms of thuggery. Yapp had his moments when the heat was on repeatedly punching the Ulster pack for he was surrounded. Again he took no part for ten minutes.

Ulster went into the lead with a Humphries penalty soon after the restart and he used the wind well to keep Cardiff pinned into their own half. It looked as if Ulster would run rampant but it was far from over as Cardiff had other ideas. Some neat and clever changes by Humphries lead him to use the blind a lot to put Steinmetz into space on several occasions for the latter to deftly kick into space and encouraged a much improved Maxwell to use his speed in the chase and scramble that ensured. But against the run of play Jason Robinson scored a breakaway try when Humphries broke the defensive line by prematurely charging out allowing Nicky Robinson the chance to put his brother away as the White Sea parted. The conversion was missed. It was game on, it was pressure on; time to deliver boys. Just as it had been written in the great book Ulster again attacked down the blind side with the hunger so often seen at Ravenhill. From a Cardiff scrum 5 yards out Ulster wheeled the seven men to be awarded the put in. Boss went flat to his right bringing the crucial part of the initial Cardiff defence with him to reverse pass it into the safe haven of Roger Wilson who crashed over the line. The conversion and a penalty by Humphries completed the scoring to leave the score Ulster 26:17 Cardiff.

Despite a few nervous moments and some poor decisions that you would not expect from senior players Ulster hung on. Mike Phillips was almost never given an inch but from time to time did show what he was capable of. He would even do well in the boxing ring as he took exception to Boss tackling him only to greet Isaac with a uppercut to the face again missed by the officials and again off the ball. Although Justin Harrison failed to deliver as a kicking back he provided one of the moments of the evening. Jumping against two Cardiff jumpers who seemed to have beaten him he grasped the ball from nowhere in a moment of sublime world-class skill.

Although groggy and it showed especially in the last 15 Ulster can look back with some satisfaction. Three weeks without a game has its benefits in that it gave players like Steinmetz time to recover but allowed others to loose the match sharpness so necessary. However it did allow us to have a glimpse at the character and the resolve within the side to succeed whenever the chips are down. This is what is required to regain the HEC; ultimately the real prize. Mark McCall has some work to do over the next few weeks but all those problems are surmountable and it is not a bad thing to be sitting here close to the top of the table. The view is so much better. The synergy between the boys and their fans again goes from strength to strength in a mutual appreciation. Playing for Ulster is not like playing for any other side. These boys are not playing for their province but for their country and that country is ULSTER, such are the high levels of motivation and deep bonding between team and fan not able to be replicated anywhere else in Northern Hemisphere rugby, at any level.

ULSTER: 15 - Bryn Cunningham; 14 - Tommy Bowe; 13 - Andrew Trimble; 12 - Paul Steinmetz; 11 - Andrew Maxwell; 10 - David Humphreys; 9 - Isaac Boss; 1 - Bryan Young; 2 - Rory Best; 3 - Simon Best (Captain); 4 -Matt McCullough ; 5- Justin Harrison ; 6 - Neil Best; 7 - Stephen Ferris; 8 - Roger Wilson

Replacements: 16 - Justin Fitzpatrick ; 17 - Nigel Brady ; 18 - Ryan Caldwell; 19 - Neil McMillan; 20 - Kieran Campbell; 21 - Paddy Wallace; 22 - Jonny Bell

Cardiff Blues: Nick Macleod; Chris Czekaj, Jamie Robinson, Marc Stcherbina, Craig Morgan; Nick Robinson, Mike Phillips; John Yapp, T Rhys Thomas, Gethin Jenkins, Deiniol Jones, Rob Sidoli, Maama Molitika, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Xavier Rush (capt).

Replacements: Ben Evans, Duane Goodfield, Kort Schubert, Mark Lewis/Martyn Williams, Ryan Powell, Tristan Davies, Dafydd Hewitt.

Referee: Peter Allan (SRU). Touch Judges: David Keane (IRFU), Tom Horkan (IRFU).

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	Brehon		Unfit I follow where Colin leads the way, For 'tis some virtue - and a virtue to commend - that your pen triumphs yet agen: And next to deeds which our own honour raise, Is to distinguish them who merit praise. attr. Wm Congreve