Awful scrum, dodgy line-out and handling errors, but Ulster should have come away with something
Every silver lining has a cloud
For me Ulster dropped the ball against Racing 92 in Paris, and I don’t just mean the unacceptable number of handling errors – the more you review the game the more you feel it’s a match Ulster should’ve got something from.
The scrum was awful in Paris, matched by the dodgy lineout. Good players, experienced players, fell off tackles and there were just too many knock-ons. Yet, despite having a man in the bin, Ulster were in a great position 25 minutes in. They’d picked up two tries and silenced the home crowd and they were showing they could create chances.
When the tide turned before half-time, Ulster found themselves a bit underwater, and for me they panicked. I don’t know how much the mental scars of Munster were a factor, but with a little more belief and composure they could have held on the Racing’s coat tails for longer. With two tries in the bag they should have pivoted to chasing two more and the objective of getting within seven should have been the bonus, bonus.
Ulster seem to be a team – along with a few others – who are regularly capable of delivering four wins in a Pool stage and only sixteen points, whilst others seem to be regularly able to hit the eighteen-point mark from only three. The truth is you can’t get on in Europe without a bonus point here or there and if you can’t get them at home, you’ve got to chase them away.
For that very reason it seemed to me the decision to withdraw Rory Best was premature – though I’m already a fan of Adam McBurney who brings real edge to the Ulster forwards – as was the decision to withdraw Jacob Stockdale. If the coaching team were so keen to further blood young winger Angus Kernohan, they could have done so at the expense of Craig Gilroy who seemed unusually out of sorts at La Defense Arena.
The contrast is with Leinster who didn’t win but got something from their trip to the South of France. It’s that ability to “get something” that secures qualification in the Champions Cup. Leinster and Munster are past masters.
One big positive for Ulster is clearly the midfield pairing of McCloskey and Addison which has real balance, it is only going to get better and better. Don’t be surprised if one or both get a run out in the Autumn internationals.
And as much as Ulster don’t have depth at nine behind John Cooney, they do have competition at ten, where Jonny McPhillips can expect to start a few in the coming weeks.
With Ulster hosting Dragons and then off to Treviso they have a window to build momentum again. Get the set piece right and this team can still challenge.
The Simon Zebo episode was a side show that did nothing to enhance his reputation or prospects of returning to the Ireland squad.
If a player had waved a finger at me like that – he may have left the pitch with only seven. And whilst his apology was the right thing to do – I don’t expect Ulster or their fans to feel obliged to be overly polite when he visits Belfast. At the end of the Pool stage, the Sky Blues of Racing 92 might not quite fancy the dark clouds of an Ulster January.
Failures, repeated failures, are the finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward to success
Comments on RugbyPass
Forget the 85kg bit, that can become something else. However I do like the one off test on ANZAC day idea. SR plays Fri/ Sat, test players travel Sunday and the squads have the full week together before playing Saturday. Rest of SR has a week off. Either involve women's teams in same location or in the other country and rotate annually. Herbert is right in that change is needed.
3 Go to commentsI’ve read loads of nonsense before but this article takes the cake. Or perhaps someone changed the date for April Fool's Day.
3 Go to commentsReally Rugbypass? Ben Smith I think you forgot what the Springboks did to the All Blacks at Twickenham 8 weeks earlier? Springboks 35 All Blacks 7. There is alot of ifs and buts in your article. The All Blacks threw the sink at the Springboks and unfortunately they were not good enough regardless if they played with 14 men or not. It was the Springboks who forced the All Blacks to make mistakes! Sorry but not Sorry the Springboks is the best ever Rugby World Cup Nation in the world. 4 Cups baby!
164 Go to commentsYou just backed the Boks with that fantastic review! Well done! Have some cake!
164 Go to commentsBen Smith please write up something better than this. The Springboks would have won the world cup if you were 15 men on the field. They would have found a way, they always find a way to beat the All Blacks.
164 Go to commentsWow, there is a lot of “could have” and “ should have” in this waist of time dribble. I love the deportation in this story to search for a glimpse at a silver lining. Here are the facts, NZ was a badly coached and undisciplined shadow of their former glory. They never took the lead in a game they were never going to win.
164 Go to commentsGOTTA MAKE ‘THE GEORGE’ HAPPEN!!!! That’s a great idea! A trans Tasman midget battle on ANZAC Day. I don’t think the ABs Wallabies game should be a one off winner takes all though, just the first match with the other two later in the year with the RC. Reason being, no one will ever shut up about how aussies couldn’t win it when it was a 3 match series.
3 Go to comments@Ben smith. Thats knock out rugby. So honeslty who cares?
164 Go to commentsIt will interesting to know which Irish players said that…
1 Go to commentsNaaaww boys will be boys! Now run along ya wee scamp! Don’t let us catch you at again😏
1 Go to commentsGreat to have Ethan Blackadder back in the Crusaders in the last few weeks. One of the best all round loose forwards around. He played so well last week against the Rebels. Fantastic attitude Ethan has and his comments are spot on.
2 Go to commentsThe author is 100% right. The Springboks know that they don't have near the natural attraction, mana, skill and mystic the All Blacks have. So, Chasing the sun 1 & 2 was concocted to overblow the Boks image on the back of a corruptly obtained “win". It's marketing ploy to force the Boks delusion as the World's Best. I guess World Rugby is also not to be believed when it came out with an apology about how the final was officiated. And if the 2023 final such a superb game by the Boks, then the Boks crying about Referee Bryce Lawrence for decades is also deserves a laugh. Chase the sun and get burned like a moth. A very well written literary piece that tore the Boks and Chasing the sun farce to shreds. 🖤All Blacks🏉
164 Go to commentsI’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
164 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
164 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
164 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
164 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
164 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
164 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
164 Go to comments