European fare offers real cure after hangover of Six Nations
THE end was brutal, and brilliant – a 40-phase, slow suffocation exercise which ended with Luke McGrath kicking to the stands to put Ulster out of their misery.
The growing despair on Ulster faces as Leinster remorselessly racked up the carries told its own tale. Dan McFarland’s men had the winning of this pulsating quarter-final but Leinster’s Cup pedigree took over as they forced their way back into the lead and then subjected Ulster to the rugby equivalent of a pillow-smothering, keeping the pressure on to the point where their victims simply stopped twitching.
McFarland deserves enormous credit for the work he has done in Belfast in a relatively short time. Last season, Ulster were on the ropes consistent underachievement, coaching upheaval and the negative fallout from the Belfast rape trial had Brian O’Driscoll dismissing the province as a ‘basket case’d.
In his understated way, McFarland set about reinstilling self-belief and doggedness in his squad and Ulster oozed both qualities yesterday to the point of coming agonisingly close to the last four of Europe’s premier competition.
The pack, a hotch-potch of imports and Leinster cast-offs, containing only two Ulster men in captain Rory Best and second row Iain Henderson, were magnificent.
Kieran Treadwell had the game of his career in the second row, pouncing for the early try and consistently smashing blue jerseys with both second rows clocking up over 20 tackles, along with the two Leinster exile backrows Jordi Murphy and Nick Timoney.
It should have been the platform for an epic victory but Ulster’s relative lack of experience in these situations counted against them.
Most notably when Jacob Stockdale failed to ground properly after blowing through would-be Leinster tacklers during one of many sensational runs that brought him a ground-gain tally of 98 metres.
The Ireland winger was in bits afterwards – his failure to prevent Adam Byrne crossing for the crucial Leinster try adding to the overbearing sense of regret – but when the initial pain eases and Ulster reflect back, they will be able to take enormous pride from this performance.
For a start, it suggests Ulster have a real shot at the Pro14 title if they can replicate the intensity they showed here.
As for Leinster, they have oodles to work on but the winning muscle memory that drove them to the double last year has not dissipated.
There is certainly a need for a tactical rethink, the over-reliance on box-kicks and running ball when there was plenty of space in behind to exploit with kicks over the top needs to be looked at but they will be better for this test.
Perhaps, most significantly in World Cup year, was the information gleaned by watching Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, with plenty of individual displays to mull over as he whittles down his squad to the 31 who will travel to Japan.
Jack Conan was always likely to be on that plane but there is growing force behind the argument that he deserves to go as firstchoice No8 ahead of CJ Stander after a magnificent showing yesterday.
He offers so much more variety than his Munster rival.
Another player to hold his hand up was Ross Byrne. The out-half suffered a dip in form when axed from Schmidt’s Six Nations squad a couple of months ago but he is a big-game player as he showed again yesterday.
In his ability to bounce back from errors and deliver when really needed, Byrne is reminiscent of Ronan O’Gara and after messing up badly for Treadwell’s try, he had the strength of character to force his way over for his own touchdown before landing the winning kick under huge pressure.
If Byrne put himself in the mix, then so too did Ulster scrum-half John Cooney, the spiritual leader of the Ravenhill side and a man who is now pushing Conor Murray hard for the role of Ireland’s first-choice No9.
But that is for down the road. For now, Irish rugby can give thanks for the Solpadeine-like effects of the European Cup after a Six Nations that left everyone feeling a little sick in the stomach.
Ulster are feeling sick now, but that will pass and, with Munster showing huge resolve to join Leinster in the last four, Ireland’s World Cup prospects are suddenly looking a lot brighter.