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Ulternative Alster Fan Club
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Match Report |
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That’s the way to do it! Mr Punch was at Ravenhill on Saturday on a beautifully sunny, clear afternoon and Ulster showed him the way to do it. Confounding the critics Ulster bounced from capitulation against Glasgow last week in the Magners League to a thoroughly deserved victory over perennial HEC Opponents Stade Francais. I had a good feeling about this one when I saw the teams lining up fort he kick-off with Ulster preparing to play towards the Aquinas end. This meant two things. Firstly Ulster would be playing towards the beer-tent in the second half and I have a pet theory about that, but more importantly it would be Stade playing the second half into the low slanting sun pouring down from the Aquinas end. You got the feeling that the team had had a rocket up them from last week’s poor performance in the second half against Glasgow. Certainly they came out showing an intention to get stuck into Stade and give them no quarter. The early phases saw Ulster making progress with a few well placed kicks from Boss and Humphreys but it was Stade who had the first real opportunity to get on the scoreboard when Ulster were penalised at a scrum and Lionel Beauxis elected for a shot at goal. His radar was off though and he pushed it wide. Ulster broke out again through Humphreys and Danielli but Stade were able to scramble back and thwart what could have been the first try for the home side. As they arttempted to work their way back into the Ulster half Stade were then penalised for diving over the top at a ruck. Humphreys attempted a long range penalty but it hit the left upright and bounced back infield. Thankfully the Ulster players following up and won a scrum 10 metres out from the Stade line right in-front of the posts. Mr Punch was penalised for a scrummaging infringement and this time iHumph made no mistake putting Ulster 3-0 ahead. The lead was short-lived though as Stade worked a good opportunity from the restart, Beauxis missed the drop goal attempt but counter-attacking from the 22 drop-out they were awarded a penalty when Clint blocked a runner off the ball and Beauxis made it third time lucky with the penalty attempt for 3-3. Ulster’s best attacks were coming from deep though and the next points were Ulster’s as iHumph combined with Danielli to break from inside their own 22 up the terrace side finally launching Brady over the line from 15m out for a converted try to put Ulster well in the lead. Stade were on the back foot by now and starting to feel the pressure with the Ulster crowd really cheering on the Ulster pressure. But they were not quite defeated yet. Another Penalty attempt was missed but they continued to press Ulster looking for a weakness. Phase after phase they pressed trying to break the Ulster defensive line but all they could get for their trouble was another penalty attempt. This time Beauxis made no mistake ands the gap closed to 4 points. The French aristocrats were definitely back in the game. Stade began a period of possession and pressure but were unable to make anything stick with Ulster’s tackling and commitment making sure they were held up and pushed back at every opportunity. When Stade were penalised again for not rolling away Humphreys set up a lineout in the Stade 22. Ulster won the ball and set about working through the phases Mr Punch interfered illegally on the floor and gifted Ulster another 3 points to restore the 7 point lead. Ulster showed no fear and as his confidence grew Humph had the audacity to run the ball from deep selling two dummies on the way. The last move of the half saw Stade win a penalty from a scrum and kick to touch inside the Ulster 22 only to be pulled up for the through not being straight. Stade were definitely losing their cool and as they left the field for half time they started swinging their handbags but Ulster were not to be intimidated. As with so many games the first score after the restart for the second half sets the tone. When Ulster came out they were obviously not intending to repeat the mistakes of last week. From the kick-off they were full of energy and intent. Trimble, who has been steadily coming back to the form that made him an Ulster favourite in his first two seasons just failed to get on the end of a cross-field kick. But Stade’s desperation was starting to turn to indiscipline. Dupuy was sin-binned for a late shoulder-charge off the ball and Stade were down to 14 men and Humphreys made the kick for a 10 point lead. Next came the turning of the screw. Humphreys who had been the orchestrator of all that was good from Ulster broke from a quickly taken throw-in to pass the ball wide to Trimble to charged up-field to set up a ruck. Ferris then took the ball on breaking through the Stade tacklers to unleash Danielli on the lice for another Ulster try which Humphreys converts. Ulster 23 Stade 6. As the game entered the final decisive 20 minutes Stade were becoming increasingly desperate and ill-tempered. Every single player was doing his bit in defence and Ulster seemed almost able to turn the ball over at will. But Stade were not yet out of it. Ulster conceded a penalty setting up a Stade line-out in the Ulster 22 but the Ulster line was not easy to cross and the attack was repelled. Brian McLaughlin emptied the bench to protect his key players for next week and Ulster closed up shop for the day. No sooner on than he is off again Bryan Young and opposite number Attoub were binned following a bust up in which the Stade captain Mr Punch himself should surely have seen yellow too. At this point all hope of a win was gone for Stade but they still hoped for a losing bonus point and a converted try against an increasingly defensive Ulster put them within reach. They so nearly made it too. One more penalty for holding on in the tackle gave Stade a last chance at points but replacement kicker Oelschig was no better than Beauxis and the chance was gone. Finally some wise play by Ulster ran the last few minutes of play down and a kick to touch sealed another famous win at Ravenhill against the illustrious Stade Francais. Half way through the HEC campaign and we are still within sight of an all too rare qualification from our group. The reverse fixture next week-end will surely be the make-or-break game. On Saturday so many Ulstermen stood up and were counted. Ferris, Henry and Pollock all held their own. The scrum creaked but did not break and if BJ comes back next week-end for the rematch we should be in good shape. The Line-out held up well and the half-backs orchestrated the game nicely. Most of the kicking was excellent and the few mess-ups did not cost us. Trimble is looking like his old self and Danielli, Cave and Whitten all played their part. What we need now is a BIG performance and a first competitive wion in France to set us up for a top spot in our group. Roncero and Dupuy will be lucky to take any part in next week’s game after their antics on the field this week. Dupuy’s gouge on Ferris will surely see him banned and Roncero’s indiscriminate use of his fists could see him miss a game or two. C’MON ULSTERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Ulster's Stephen Ferris on the incident involving Julien Dupuy "I was at the bottom of it (a ruck) getting my eyes tugged at a good bit. "It's disappointing because I thought it was being cut out of the game. "I wouldn't like to get anybody cited at all but it still seems to be in the French game and it has to be cut out." Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin "It wasn't the perfect performance by any means," he said. "But by goodness it was a great one. "If you're going to play Stade here then you've got to hassle them and we did that very, very well. Whenever they had the ball we forced the error. "We didn't collapse in the last 10 minutes and let them get a bonus point which I think could be crucial for us in the end. "We've got to believe we're good enough to win in Brussels. We've given ourselves a great opportunity. "It is important for us to play over there and not to contain. We've got to go and we've got to play with the same confidence that we played with today,." Stade flanker James Haskell admitted his side's display had been poor but said he was confident they could bounce back from their first defeat in this season's European campaign "It's not panic stations yet," he said. "But we can re-focus and go again. "It doesn't matter where we play, we just have to turn up in Brussels and come out with all guns blazing. "It wasn't a good performance at all for us, but we have the ability to turn things round."
Stade Francais player James Haskell "It's not panic stations yet. "We can re-focus and go again. It doesn't matter where we play, we just have to turn up in Brussels and come out with all guns blazing. "It wasn't a good performance at all for us, but we have the ability to turn things round." Ulster: Schifcofske, Trimble, Cave, Whitten, Danielli, Humphreys, Boss, Court, Brady, D. Fitzpatrick, O'Donoghue, Tuohy, Ferris, Pollock, Henry. Replacements: Smith for Cave (76), O'Connor for Humphreys (71), Kyriacou for Brady (69), Young for D. Fitzpatrick (64), J Fitzpatrick for Ferris (77), Faloon for Pollock (64). Stade Français: Southwell, Gasnier, Bastareaud, Messina, Phillips, Beauxis, Dupuy, Roncero, Kayser, Marconnet, Marchois, Pape, Haskell, Burban, Rabadan, M Bergamasco. Replacements: Arias for Southwell (64), Bousses for Messina (51), Oelschig for Beauxis (47), Szarzewski for Kayser (49), Attoub for Marconnet (50), Vigouroux for Pape (70), M Bergamasco for Burban (41), Slimani for M. Bergamasco (76). Referee: D Pearson (England).
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