Ulster 8 Ospreys 0
The scoreline suggests a good old fashioned arm wrestle on a muddy night. Anything but. On a perfect night for rugby, almost all of a good-sized crowd were with the home team from the start and stayed with them until the end, absorbed as they were by a taut affair that was heading for, of all things, a 3-0 win until who else but Jacob Stockdale scored one of his turnover tries in the very last play of the game. He certainly knows how to seize the moment.
It was also a highly ironic end in that from the seventh minute to the 80th there wasn’t a point scored, and throughout much of that time Ulster battered away at an obdurate Ospreys defence, before Stockdale capitalised on a loose pass by Dan Biggar.
The win cements their hold on a home Champions Cup qualifier, most likely here against the Ospreys again, and puts them to within three points of Edinburgh, who are holding down the last Guinness Pro14 play-off place in Conference B and with it an automatic Champions Cup qualifying spot.
Buoyed by last week’s bonus point win in Edinburgh, Ulster’s set-pieces, breakdown work and intensity were all up a notch, and they also looked to have more desire. Woth Iain Henderson in the second-row, and the impressive Matthew Rea and Jean Deysel in the back-row, they had plenty of ball-carrying ballast, and Rory Best also had a big game. They had 70 per cent possession and 80 per cent territory overall.
A 3-0 interval lead was scant reward, or indication, of the first-half’s flow, but Ulster left tries behind and forced the pass a few times too often. As expected of any team featuring Alun Wyn Jones, even in an unfamiliar ‘6’ jersey, Bradley Davies and Dan Biggar weren’t for wilting, and openside Sam Cross seemed to be over the ball all night. They also brought remarkable energy and enthusiasm into what amounted to two 40 minute defensive drills, even more so in the second half.
Ulster made a good start when John Cooney’s wicked blindside grubber had Dan Evans groping for the ball and conceding a line-out inside the Ospreys 22, and when Bradley Davies was pinged for being in front of the hind most foot, Cooney opened the scoring.
Davies denied Stocklade a try in the corner, before another offload by Cooney didn’t go to hand and was hacked upfield. After good work by Charles Piatau and Darren Cave had released Iain Henderson, Piatau was penalised for side entry, but Dan Biggar surprisingly hooked his penalty.
After McPhlllips was forced off to be replaced by David Shanahan, with Cooney switching to out-half yet again, Ulster had another let off when the Ospreys swept turnover ball wide where Kieron Fonotia broke through and he dummied Piatau hook, line and sinker to skate in. But the try was disallowed after recourse to the TMO for a neck roll by Alun Wyn Jones on Henderson.
Ulster looked sure to score themselves when Rea burst through but he was dragged down fractionally short of the line by Habberfield. And so the first half ended 3-0.
Ulster renewed the second period on the front foot. A deft grubber by Piatau eluded Dirksen and Louis Ludik followed up with a full-length tackle around the ankles to earn a five metre scrum. But another chance went awry when Piatau drew two tackles and freed his left hand, only for his high offload to elude Stockdale.
Ulster forced an array of close-in scrums and penalties and intense pressure yielded a yellow card against Hassler for not rolling away. The Ospreys may have been on the ropes but weren’t for buckling, before Hassler’s absence was felt.
Piatau countered into traffic, before Shanahan, Cooney and McCloskey swept the ball left to Luke Marshall, whose chip was gathered at eye-catching pace by Nick Timoney, but video replays showed that Owen Watkin’s covering tackle did not enough to prevent a clean grounding.
In the ultimate irony, as the Ospreys put together their first attacking set in about half an hour inside their own half, a Biggar pass went loose and who else but Stockdale scooped to gather, sprint clear and gleefully dive over with the last play of the game. Who else indeed.
The game had been preceded by a demonstration outside the Kingspan Stadium, entitled ‘Stamp out Misogyny at Ulster Rugby’, which was organised by the Belfast Feminist Network and attended by an estimated 150 people.
It was the second rally organised by the group since the Belfast rape trial verdict on March 28th, when the Ulster and Ireland players Paddy Jackson (26) and Stuart Olding (25) were found not guilty of raping the same woman at a house party at Jackson’s south Belfast home in June 2016. A statement by Ulster and the IRFU, following their review, is expected imminently, possibly as early as Saturday.
Earlier this week Bank of Ireland, who have sponsored Ulster for 20 years, issued a statement saying it was “highly concerned regarding the serious behaviour and conduct issues which have emerged as a result of the recent high profile trial.”
Their logo did not adorn the back of the Ulster jerseys for Friday’s game, but that was due to an agreement, reached over six months ago, to welcome the Alzheimer’s Society as their jersey sponsor for the day.
Scoring sequence – 7 mins Cooney pen 3-0; 80 mins Stockdale try 8-0.
ULSTER: Charles Piutau; Louis Ludik; Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny McPhillips, John Cooney; Callum Black, Rory Best (capt), Ross Kane, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson, Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Jean Deysel.
Replacements: David Shanahan for McPhillips (29 mins), Alan O’Connor for Treadwell (53 mins), Andrew Warwick for Black (55 mins), Nick Timoney for Reidy (65 mins), Rob Herring for Best (69 mins), Tom O’Toole for Kane (77 mins). Not used: Tommy Bowe.
OSPREYS: Dan Evans; Jeff Hassler, Kieron Fonotia, Owen Watkin, Hanno Dirksen; Dan Biggar, Tom Habberfield; Nicky Smith, Scott Otten, Dmitri Arhip; Bradley Davies, Adam Beard; Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Cross, James King.
Replacements: Ifan Phillips for Otten (17 mins), Rhodri Jones for Smith (59 mins), Ma’afu Fia for Arhip (62 mins), Guy Mercer for Beard, Sam Davies for Dirksen (both 69 mins). Not used: Lloyd Ashley, Martthew Aubrey, James Hook.
Sinbinned: Hassler (59 mins).
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).
