Exclusively awful despite the exclusive

There was very little to cheer Ulster hearts this evening but plenty to shout about as Ulster crashed to a very much under strength Ospreys team in a manner that was tough to take for the large crowd that turned up at Ravenhill. It will not be a game that the players nor the fans will want to talk about and indeed it should be forgotten about and driven to the ignominious depths of oblivion. Both sides were shorn of their starlets but the Ospreys showed the better cunning and played the referee for all he was worth taking advantage of some very slack decisions or rather indecisions and once again proved that the referees in this competition in the main are not up to very much at all.

To be fair he was dreadful to the visitors as well. For not only did he miss the visitors being off side in defence for the entire match save the last five minutes when he decided to blow for the offence on selective occasions but he should have sent an Ospreys forward off for holding Neil McMillan off when a try was begging. He went on to say “play on” to a penalty tap that was knocked forward by the Ospreys. The litany could drag on for weeks, as Bryn Cunningham was lucky to stay on the field for holding the Ospreys right wing in similar circumstances. With this sort of refereeing the Celtic League will struggle to find any sort of sponsor especially after a big name took fright in the summer over the Welsh debacle.

One of the very few bonuses for Ulster and there were no points on offer was the emergence of Stephen Ferris who played for fifteen or so minutes and will now seriously push a declining Roger Wilson for his place whereas Paddy Wallace was hindered by blatant off sides and was deprived of a decent platform of go forward ball. Consequently Paddy found himself all at sea and floundered through no fault of his own. Henry Head did himself no harm either and was not in the least detracted from the singing by some of his very enthusiastic fans on the Promenade.

Although the Autumn Internationals bring in much needed cash into the game it is ruining the Celtic League as it is on games like these that Ulster could lose their way and negate all of the hard work that was done by the magnificent but missing eight in Dublin. The poor quality of the game was compounded by a standard of refereeing that drives people away from matches. But despite this, Ulster had more than enough ball to push this game to a close win but for some strange and obscure decisions. The main difference between the sides and it is significant that on nearly every occasion the Ospreys attacked, they came away with points while Ulster continued to dominate the game in terms of possession and territory and conspired to lose this game and with it the reputation of Ulster rugby.

Justin Harrison proudly led his charges out on to the field and again delivered a captains performance which as lacking in some of his lieutenants and key players. The lineout imploded early on and let the Ospreys off the hook at key attacking moments. It was the poor throwing of Nigel Brady that forced the jumpers to tap poor ball to Boss. In the early exchanges Ulster were dominant but unbeknown were acting out the script for the rest of the game. Despite pressing for most of the half in the Ospreys half it was they who took the first score courtesy of a penalty by Connor against the run of play, which proved to the manner for the evening’s lack of entertainment. The Ulster tight eight were constantly held on the line by the 13 or so Ospreys players that defended with their lives. Poor ball and conspicuous offside on ball that was not properly secured scuppered any chances of scoring. But a flurry of penalties put the half time score of Ulster 6 Ospreys 9 after the wonderful Paul Steinmetz kicked 2 for Ulster and Shaun Connor 3 for his side. It was as dull as it was dour and thankfully the Ulster forwards had worked out that tonight they were not going to gain access to the vault of tries that they required and were expected to get. Or so we thought!

They emerged in the second like demons pressing hard on the opposition line to be awarded a series of penalties thanks to their pressure and ferocious tackling but misguidedly opted to kick for the corner having learned nothing from the first half. The eminently kickable penalties would have made all the difference to the complexion of the match. Unlike Ulster, Ospreys were taking their chances and retaining possession and went on to score a try after what can only be described as a bit-up in defence and ended the game with a scraggy drop goal that sealed Ulster’s fate after Steinmetz had drawn Ulster level early in the second. And the missed chances will be rued for a long time well into the run up to the end of the season.

The Ospreys continually pressurised Ulster on every opportunity in the scrum and the lineout right from the very start. In the lineout they got in front of Nigel Brady and were stepping into the Ulster line at will. In the scrum Jason Spice was trying to pick and kick the ball from Roger Wilson’s feet. You could argue and with some substance that these were penalty offences but Ulster failed to deal with these players in a manner befitting. The refereeing was poor and he was not helped by one of his touch judges from the IRFU but the other made up for it in the second with some dubious flags that went Ulster’s way in an attempt to redress the balance. But it is not the point. All teams want is the rules applied fairly and not willy nilly as was the case tonight by officials who were clearly out of their depth.

The whyfores and wherefores could be analysed for eternity but at the end of the day the second string team was not good enough to beat the second string Ospreys team. Boss took too much on himself and Paddy Wallace given his chance failed to assert any sort of maturity or control onto the game. He did play some clever kicks and the Ospreys defence was in his face before you could say Jack Robinson in particular the left wing being several yards offside. The pass was forced on too many occasions as were the wrong options taken by a scrum half fed on poor ball but showed courage if not some poor tackling that cost a try. Kevin Maggs was largely ineffectual and someone must ask how long this kind of telegraphed crash ball can go on.

You can say what you like about Sir Clive Woodward but if there is a lesson to be learned from tonight that is to keep the scoreboard ticking over. I hope you are listening tonight Mark.

Earlier on in an exclusive to the URSC conversation with Gavin Henson we were discussing his recent book at the question of the controversy that it has caused. I pressed him on a few points and to be fair to him he was very forthright and direct in his response. He made it clear that his personal life was off limits but was more than keen to espouse some other more controversial views. He was more than up front about the Lions management as well and was not at all in denial. I quipped that sometimes it is necessary to say the hard things in life to which his response was. “What I wrote was the truth” Far from backing down or trying to play down some of his comments he was reminding me more of a late Chancellor when he said, “Je regret rien”. Never know to be a fan of Gavin he did however come across as a guy who said what he thought no matter who it offended.

Referee: Ian Heard (Scotland)

Your comments
Name			Your comments
	for dog and ulcer		Excellent review which spreads the blame well to players and coach and referee. On the last of these, I feel that the standard is destroying the game for spectators and will eventually result in poorer attendances and no income. The last 2 ref erformances at Ravenhill were abyssmal and Whitehouse now gets praise for only getting some of it wrong!!
	Brehon		On a bitterly cold & wet night, blokes who have had something less than a week to get each others measure and officials who seemingly last turned out at a picnic day I think loading the result on the players new to a run-on side is harsh. Ulster demands and the blokes do what they can on the day. Nobody likes losing - and all would be gutted - but they will have done their best, coach included. It is a shame that Harrison was unable to master rather than monster the referee - the lineouts were a credit to H's handling skill, tenacity and guile - but the Ospreys read the ref better. Have a drink boys, stay away from the doomsayers and maintain your efforts for us all! Brehon