Ulster flex their muscles to boost last eight hopes... but old flaws still need addressed
ULSTER: CPiutau;CGilroy,LLudik,S McCloskey, J Stockdale; C Lealiifano, J Cooney; C Black, R Herring, W Herbst; A O’Connor, K Treadwell, I Henderson (capt), C Henry, N Timoney. Replacements: J Andrew (for Herring, 52), A Warwick (for Black, 40), R Kane (for Herbst, 40), M Rea (for Treadwell, 67), S Reidy (for Timoney, 55), P Marshall (for Cooney, 75), P Nelson (for Stockdale, 65), A Trimble (for Piutau, 60)
HARLEQUINS: R Chisholm; C Walker, W Stanley, J Roberts, A Alofa; M Smith, I Prior; L Boyce, E Elia, K Sinckler; G Merrick, C Matthews; A White, D Ward (capt), R Bothma. Replacements: C Piper (for Elia, 68), M Lambert (for Boyce, 59), P Swainston (for White, 66), M Luamanu (for Bothma, 55), D Lamb (for Merrick, 68), J Lang, T Visser, M Brown (for Smith, 76)
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France).
WHEN all was said and done on a night of thrills and spills at Kingspan Stadium, Ulster did the required in seeing off Harlequins with a bonus point and carried their European ambitions into the new year.
After the pair played out an arm-wrestle in the snow last weekend, the return leg was more true to form of two sides who this season have scored and conceded points in bagfuls.
In the end, Ulster crossed six times to Quins’ four.
John Cooney led the way with 27 points and Les Kiss’s men will watch a packed weekend of Champions Cup action hoping to see others do them a favour in their quest for a quarter-final return after three years away from the business end of the competition.
While La Rochelle, who meet Wasps tomorrow, remain firmly in control of Pool One, the northern province did all they could last night to maintain their ambitions of a best runners-up spot, even if it was far from as comfortable as the final margin would suggest.
Ulster began matters with plenty of possession, and their first visit to the opposing ‘22’ came from a pacy Rob Herring burst onto Leali’ifano’s pass but, with Quins flooding back, his pass couldn’t but Craig Gilroy away. With Ulster maintaining the pressure though, an offside from the visitors was punished by the boot of Cooney.
With the freedom that comes from knowing their chances in this competition were already over, Marcus Smith tried an ambitious cross-kick from beneath his own posts and, although Alo- fa Alofa gathered, he was soon penalised for holding on after Leali’ifano and Chris Henry converged. Having kicked four from the tee on Sunday, Cooney was halfway to that total after less than 10 minutes.
With everything going to plan, Ulster were hit with a sucker punch. Patiently moving through the phases, they were undone when Charles Piutau’s pass found only the gleeful arms of Namibian number 8 Renaldo Bothma. The burly back-rower didn’t quite have the gas to com- plete the intercept try but, after Gilroy got back to make the tackle, a quick recycle allowed Smith to dance around Cooney in the corner.
The missed conversion at least meant Ulster maintained their lead, and a try of their own was soon forthcoming.
Leali’ifano’s chip with the outside of his boot was delightful, and with Ross Chisholm all at sea, Stuart McCloskey capitalised as he booted through and slid over to finish just before the ball went dead.
With Cooney’s conversion sailing over, Ulster hoped order was restored. Anything but.
The opposition could have been reduced to 14 men soon after, but Jamie Robert’s deliberate knock-on was deemed only a penalty, and Quins enjoyed another let-off as Ulster lost another two line-outs on the edge of the 22.
With young tyro Smith bright, and Kyle Sinckler always a danger when allowed to build up a head of steam, Ulster could ill afford to be so wasteful.