Path To The Final:

From Irish Times

Group Matches

Ulster - 38, Edinburgh - 38, at Ravenhill, Friday, September 18th

"Who needs the English when you can have this?" we wrote, after Ulster kicked off the troubled competition in a Super 12-type exhibition with like-minded Scots. Little did we know.

The tempo was set right from the off; Ulster conceding two soft tries inside the first four minutes and the hitherto flawed Simon Mason hitting back with a solo effort inside another minute.

Amazingly, they were ahead by the 15th minute, only to exchange it twice more before the first quarter had barely passed. Breathless stuff.

Andy Ward was virtually obliged to play on one side of the pitch due to a groin strain that would force him off at half-time.

However, even as an auxiliary winger on one leg, he's better than most on two and he had a telling hand in two tries, the second being the pick of the night.

Stephen Bell initiated the flowing move with a quick tap penalty on his 22, David Humphreys deftly putting Jonathan Bell into space. The ball was recycled and moved left from inside the visitors' half for Mason to float a long skip pass to Ward.

He took out two men superbly before offloading a one-handed try-scoring pass in the tackle to the looping Jan Cunningham. Mason converted to make it 22-19 after 22 minutes.

The lead changed hands five times in all and Ulster seemed to have restored some sort of normality in the final half-hour as the pack dug in, Clinton van Rensberg shored up the midfield and Humprheys pinned the Reivers pack. But Mason missed a semi-insurance penalty and with the last kick Duncan Hodge landed a 35 metre drop goal. Those damned Scots.

Scoring sequence: 2 mins Mayer try, Hodge con 0-7; 4 mins Roxburgh try, Hodge con 0-14; 5 mins Mason try and con 7-14; 11 mins Mason pen 10-14; 14 mins McKinty try 15-14; 16 mins Murray try 15-19; 22 mins Cunningham try, Mason con 22-19; 32 mins Mason pen 25-19; 38 mins Hodge pen 25-22; 45 mins Murray try, Hodge con 25-29; 52 mins Cunningham try, Mason con 32-29; 58 mins Hodge pen 32-32; 61 mins Mason pen 3532; 66 mins Mason pen 38-32; 68 mins Hodge pen 38-35; 82 mins Hodge drop goal 38-38.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensberg, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, G Leslie, M Rea, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - S Duncan for Ward (half-time), A Matchett for S Bell (60 mins), R Irwin for Leslie (65 mins), R Weir for Clarke (73 mins).

EDINBURGH REIVERS: H Gilmour; T Stanger, J Mayer, G Shiel, C Murray; D Hodge, I Fairley; B Stewart, G Mckelvey, M Proudfoot, D Burns, G McCallum, T McVie, B Renwick (capt), A Roxburgh. Replacements - A Tait for Gilmour (23 mins), C Mather for Roxburgh (29 mins), S Scott for McKelvey (69 mins), G Hayter for McVie (71 mins), C Chalmers for Stanger (78 mins).

Referee: G Borreani (France).

Toulouse - 39, Ulster - 3, at Stade Les Sept Deniers, Saturday, September 26th

Against a near full-strength Toulouse intent on strutting their stuff for the home crowd, Ulster tackled like dervishes. They kept the French scoreless in the opening quarter and limited the inaugural European Cup winners to just two penalties by the 38th minute.

Then the first of what would be many Ulster turnovers resulted in Yann Delaigue putting Emile N'tamack over unopposed. Even so, a Mason penalty limited the scoring to a respectable 13-3 at the break.

However, Ulster's inability to retain possession and the ensuing increase in the tackle count ultimately took its toll as Harry Williams' men coughed up four soft second-half tries to ensure a damaging scoreline. The Ulster coach was unusually critical afterwards.

"I was bitterly disappointed at the final result. We made so many stupid errors. We knew we had to make as few turnovers as possible, but instead of holding onto the ball and restarting, we just handed possession to them. It was all very frustrating."

Scoring sequence: 26 mins Ougier pen 3-0; 31 mins Delaigue pen 6-0; 38 mins N'tamack try, Delaigue con 13-0; 40 mins Mason pen 13-3; 51 mins Desbrosse try, Delaigue con 203; 63 mins Marfaing try, Ougier con 27-3; 65 mins N'tamack try 32-3; 80 mins lapoutge try, Ougier con 39-3.

TOULOUSE: S Ougier; E N'tamack, P Bondouy, C Desbrosse, M Marfaing; Y Delaigue, J Cazalbou (capt); F Tournaire, Y Brue, J-L Jordana, H Miorin, F Belot, D Lacroix, N Spanghero, C Labit. Replacements - P Lapoutge for N'tamack (65 mins), J Fillol for Cazalbou (65 mins), P Soula for Bru (67 mins), M Mafutuna for Jordana (75 mins), S Moulucou for Spanghero (76 mins).

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensburg, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), A Matchett; J Fitzpatrick, R Weir, G Leslie, G Longwell, M Rea, S McKinty, T McWhirter, D Macartney. Replacements - S McDowell for Cunningham (43 mins), S Duncan for McWhirter (55 mins), R Irwin for Leslie (63 mins), S Bell for van Rensburg (72 mins), M Blair for Rea (76 mins).

Referee: D Bevan (Wales).

Ebbw Vale - 28, Ulster - 61, at Eugene Cross Park, Saturday, October 10th

The turning point of Ulster's season came the week before with a 31-9 interprovincial defeat in Cork. This extended Ulster's winless and porous run to four games.

Williams' response was to focus on the full-timers rather than the other way around. In came Stephen Bell, Rab Irwin and Mark Blair, and back came Tony McWhirter, with Stephen McKinty the only part-timer in the starting XV. It all had a profound impact.

Concentrating on the basics and opportunistically taking their scores, Ulster's pack subdued a heavier unit up front and provided the platform for the backs to run in five of their seven tries.

Simon Mason started assuming his talismanic status with a perfect 11 kicks from 11 for a personal haul of 26 points, while David Humphreys augmented some astute tactical kicking with two well taken tries.

After a brief blip mid-way through the second-half Ulster gave note of their new improved lasting powers with tries in the last 10 minutes from the seasonal debutant Blair, McKinty and substitute Andy Park.

Scoring sequence: 1 min Mason penalty 0-3; 3 mins Hayward pen 3-3; 7 mins Mason pen 3-6; 11 mins J Bell try, Mason con 3-13; 16 mins Hayward pen 6-13; 21 mins Humphreys try, Mason con 6-20; 24 mins S Bell try, Mason con 6-27; 30 mins Mason pen 6-30; 38 mins Mason pen 6-33; 40 mins penalty try, Hayward con 13-33; 45 mins Hayward pen 16-33; 56 mins Humphreys try, Mason 16-40; 58 mins Manley try 21-40; 66 mins Taumalolo try, Hayward con 28-40; 70 mins Blair try, Mason con 28-47; 76 mins McKinty try, Mason con 28-54; 80 mins Park try, Mason con 28-61.

EBBW VALE: S Taumalolo; D Manley, G Williams, J Strange, C Landry; B Hayward, D Llewellyn; A Phillips, R Campbell, A Metcalfe, L Banks, K Faletau, M Spiller, M Jones, K Jones (capt). Replacements: B Billen for Banks (half-time), G Green for Phillips (53 mins), I Thomas for Spiller (53 mins).

ULSTER: S Mason; J Cunningham, J Bell, C van Rensbery, S Coulter; D Humphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, G Longwell, M Blair, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - A Matchett for S Bell (half-time), A Park for J Bell (half-time), D Topping for McWhirter (half-time), G Leslie for Irwin (64 mins), S Duncan for Ward (76 mins).

Referee: C White (RFU).

Ulster - 29, Toulouse - 24, at Ravenhill, Friday, October 16th

The first of the really memorable nights and a benchmark for the knock-out stages, as Ulster withstood five minutes of extra time before the majority of the 9,000 crowd demanded an encore 20 minutes after the full-time whistle.

Characteristic French over-confidence in selection, compounded by ill-discipline saw Simon Mason kick four early penalties and cancel out a Michel Marfaing try from deep with one of his own in a 19-point haul.

Toulouse led fleetingly after the restart but Ulster responded swiftly when the excellent Stephen McKinty was driven over from a line-out and Mason's conversion of an opportunist Clinton van Rensberg try was sufficient buffer for the excruciating finale.

Scoring sequence: 1 min Mason pen 3-0; 3 mins Mason pen 6-0; 7 mins Mason pen 9-0; 11 mins Mason pen 12-0; 14 mins Marfaing try, Ougier con 12-7; 30 mins Mason try 17-7; 35 mins Cazalbou try, Delaigue con 17-14; 45 mins Cazalbou try, Ougier con 17-21; 51 mins McKinty try 22-21; 59 mins van Rensberg try, Mason con 29-21; 62 mins Deylaud pen 29-24.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensberg, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - G Leslie for Irwin (60 mins).

TOULOUSE: S Ougier; P Lapoutge, R Paillat, C Desbrosse, M Marfaing; Y Delaigue, J Cazalbou (capt); C Vencheri, W Servat, J-L Jordana, N Spanghero, F Belot, D Lacroix, C Labit, S Dispagne. Replacements - E N'tamack for Desbrosse (43 mins), F Pelous for Belot, P Soula for Servat (both 48), D Deylaud for Delaigue (50 mins), F Tournaire for Vencheri (52 mins).

Referee: E Murray (Scotland).

Ulster - 43, EBBW Vale - 13, at Ravenhill, Friday, October 30th

After securing second place in the interprovincials with a 36-6 win over Connacht the week before, the Ravenhill faithful were becoming a little spoilt and could be heard murmuring their discontent with a relatively scratchy home performance. To a large degree, a poor Ebbw Vale - largely content on spoiling - brought Ulster down to their level.

Andy Ward remained an enduring standard bearer, augmenting his usual high workload by having a big hand in six tries and scoring the other one himself. The comparatively unheralded Stephen McKinty did his usual donkey work and put in a fair number of big hits. The big men, Mark Blair especially, Tony McWhirter and Gary Longwell had big games too as, for once, Ulster were allowed to bully a comparatively lightweight side.

Clinton van Rensburg and Jonathan Bell formed an impenetrable defence with the South African also bulldozing up the middle repeatedly. Ebbw Vale's sole effective ploy, the line-out maul, yielded an early penalty; Ulster were a little too expansive, too quickly, and even Mason's wayward early place-kicking induced oohs from a surprised Ravenhill. But after a well conceived try for Jan Cunningham and a concerted drive for a Tony McWhirter try, Chay Dillen's sending-off for a flurry of punches on Gary Longwell ensured a one-sided contest.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins Strange pen 0-3; 15 mins Cunningham try 5-3; 19 mins McWhirter try, Mason con 12-3; 33 mins Irwin try 17-3; 40 mins Mason try and con 24-3; 49 mins Green try 24-8; 55 mins S Bell try, Mason con 31-8; 65 mins Ward try, Mason con 38-8; 73 mins Matchett try 43-8; 77 mins Olson try 43-13; 80 mins Faletau try 43-18.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensburg, J Cunningham; D Huphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - G Leslie for Irwin (50 mins), A Matchett for S Bell (62 mins), A Park for (74 mins), S Duncan for McWhirter (77 mins).

EBBW VALE: L Olsen; A Harries, G Williams, J Funnell, L Woodard; J Strange, D Llewellyn; I Thomas, L Phillips, A Metcalfe, C Billen, K Faletau, M Spiller, N Budgett, R Collins (capt). Replacements - R Campbell for L Phillips (32 mins), G Green for Spiller (40 mins), S Taumalolo for Woodard (half-time), J Hawker for Funnell (46 mins), L Banks for Budgett (68 mins), G Mason for Metcalfe (74 mins).

Referee: F Maciello (France).

Edinburgh - 21, Ulster - 23, at Myreside, Sunday, November 8th

An astonishing 100-point turnaround on the original Toulouse-Ebbw Vale fixture in a tempestuous rematch the day before had opened the door for Ulster to top the group and gain home advantage in the quarter-finals. Alternatively, a defeat would put them out.

Defeat seemed likely for much of the first 50 minutes. At that point Reivers had just moved 18-6 ahead, had owned the ball for half-an-hour and a stoppage of over three minutes ended with Tony McWhirter being stretchered off and replaced by Derek Topping.

"To be honest I thought we were gone," admitted coach Harry Williams. "But there's great character in the side and it was a tremendous comeback." No-one revealed this more than the outstanding Topping. The pack began thundering through and though there was more than a hint of catch-up about some of the scrambled passing, at least the backs gave it a go. Fortune deservedly favoured the brave over the two meetings.

After a Blair try, the decisive intervention came by way of Sheldon Coulter's 69th minute intercept try. Simon Mason's conversions landed giving him five out of five and at the death the Scottish curse was lifted when Craig Chalmers missed an 84th minute penalty. The travelling support, and exiled students, were again a factor, commanding a post-match encore.

Scoring sequence: 2 mins Mason pen 0-3; 11 mins Mason pen 0-6; 15 mins Chalmers pen 3-6; 29 mins Chalmeres pen 66; 30 mins Stanger try 11-6; 46 mins Murray try, Chalmers con 18-6; 58 mins Blair try, Mason con 18-13; 61 mins Chalmers pen 21-13; 66 mins Mason pen 21-16; 69 mins Coulter try, Mason con 21-23.

EDINBURGH REIVERS: S Lang; T Stanger, J Mayer, G Shiel, C Murray; C Chalmers, B Redpath (capt); R McNulty, G McKelvey, B Stewart, D Burns, I Fullarton, C Mather, B Renwick, I Sinclair. Replacements - A Tait for Shiel (26 mins), S Brotherstone for McKelvey (35 mins).

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensburg, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, G Longwell, M Blair, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - R Weir for Clarke (23 mins), D Topping for McWhirter (51 mins). G Leslie for Irwin (56 mins).

Referee: E Morrison (England).

Quarter-Final

Ulster - 15, Toulouse - 13, at Ravenhill, Friday, December 11th

A night which scaled even Ulster's win by the exact same score over the 1984 Wallabies. From the outset, it was clear that these Ulster boys believed they would do it and with each passing minute everyone present in the 12,000 crowd began to believe them until they too were convinced before the end.

The delicate mix between fired-up hostility, discipline and focus on the gameplan was pretty much spot on. The line-out was secure, Allen Clarke embarrassing Yannick Bru on the night. The tackling kept Toulouse pinned behind the gain line and the pack aggressively played a surprising amount of the game on the front foot. Mason and Humphreys peppered the posts from everywhere.

A fireworks display just before kick-off added to the carnival atmosphere, as Humphreys launched a wind-assisted aerial bombardment. Then he and Mason peppered the Toulouse posts from anywhere within a 50-metre radius. Sweetly struck drop goals by the former either side of a stupendous penalty from halfway by Mason earned a 9-0 interval buffer.

An ominous line-out drive by a one-dimensional Toulouse and a big scrum yielded a close-range penalty for Delaigue six minutes after the turnaround. But Ward's emotive departure and wave to the gallery for the birth of his son got the team and crowd going again. Mason inched Ulster ahead 15-3, just enough to stem the late Toulouse rally thanks to a cross-field covering tackle by Humphreys on Marfaing. "Ole. Ole" roared the crowd.

Scoring sequence: 11 mins Humphreys drop goal 3-0; 30 mins Mason pen 6-0; 35 mins Humphreys drop goal 9-0; 46 mins Delaigue pen 9-3; 52 mins Mason pen 12-3; 60 mins Mason pen 15-3; 63 mins Delaigue pen 15-6; 68 mins Pelous try, Ougier con 15-13.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, S McDowell, J Bell, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), A Matchett; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - A Park for McDowell (10 mins); D Topping for Ward (48 mins), G Leslie for Irwin (54 mins), R Weir for Irwin (64 mins), B Cunningham for Humphreys (78 mins).

TOULOUSE: S Ougier; X Garbajosa, R Paillat, L Stensness, M Marfaing; Y Delaigue, J Cazalbou (capt); C Califano, Y Bru, JL Jordana, F Belot, F Pelous, C Labit, S Dispagne, D Lacroix. Replacements - H Miorin for Lacroix (53 mins), C Desbrosse for Paillat (61 mins).

Referee: B Campsall (England).

Semi-Final

Ulster - 33, Stade Francais - 27, at Ravenhill, Saturday, January 9th

This time Ulster's 16th man - the 20,000 home crowd - believed with the team in one of the most compelling days in the history of Ulster or Irish rugby. "The key," as Williams saw it, "was that we set out to put pressure on them when they had the ball."

Hours spent pouring over Stade Francais videos convinced Williams that all the traffic would come through the shoulders of Diego Dominguez and that the French centres, Richard Dourthe and Cliff Mytton, were not particularly good passers of the ball. Jan Cunningham and Jonathan Bell mowed them down. Stymied at source, Stade admitted afterwards that they were shocked.

Ulster hit 'em hard and early, withstanding Stade's best spell in the second quarter for a critical one-point interval leader. Cue the moment of the season; Humphreys blind side chip from his own 22, Sheldon Coulter's gather, and Humphreys' return take and sprint from half-way.

Mason's trusty boot kept the scoreboard ticking and Ulster's noses in front. Needing a seven-pointer at the death, Stade were, by now, gone. More sad Francais than Stade. They spilled it or they kicked it. They were gone, even if it had gone on for another 10 minutes. Ulster were carried over the finishing line on a tidal wave of emotion. It was spine-tingling stuff.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins Mason pen 3-0; 8 mins Mason drop goal 6-0; 11 mins Dominguez pen 6-3; 16 mins McKinty try 11-3; 30 mins Juillet try, Dominguez con 11-10; 43 mins Humphreys try, Mason con 18-10; 48 mins Mason pen 21-10; 52 mins Humphreys drop goal 24-10; 56 mins Juillet try, Dominguez con 24-17; 58 mins Dominguez pen 24-20; 62 mins Mason pen 27-20; 66 mins Mason pen 30-20; 68 mins Lievremont try, Dominguez con 30-27; 73 mins mason pen 33-27.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Cunningham, J Bell, A Park; D Humphreys (captain), A Matchett; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - G Leslie for Irwin (54 mins), D Topping for McWhirter (73 mins).

STADE FRANCAIS: S Viars; A Gomes, R Dourthe, C Mytton, T Lombard; D Dominguez (captain), C Laussucq; S Marconnet, L Pedrosa, P de Villiers, H Chaffardon, D George, C Moni, R Pool-Jones, C Juillet. Replacements - S Simon for Marconnet, V Moscato for Pedrosa, M Lievremont for PoolJones (all 50 mins), (temp) F Comba for Lombard (75-77 mins).

Referee: J Fleming (Scotland).

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