Northampton - 32 Ulster - 9:EUROPEAN CUP: Next stop Biarritz. Northampton, champions of Europe in 2000, will carry the English challenge deep into the rugby heartland of south-west France next Saturday having disposed of Ulster, the 1999 champions, by a robust winning margin. It was the Saints' eighth home win on the trot, sufficient evidence of their determination to turn Franklins Gardens into an impregnable fortress of the English game that bears comparison to Kingsholm or Welford Road.
Two tries by Matt Dawson and John Leslie in the last five minutes added a high gloss finish to a generally polished performance by Northampton that was commanding without ever reaching spectacular heights. It was the sort of wet, windswept afternoon on which goalkickers are often required to strut their stuff: Paul Grayson duly obliged, racking up 22 points and winning the man-of-the-match award.
Overall, Northampton operated in tight cohesive units that were invariably one step ahead of an Ulster side that too often lacked pace and anticipation especially through the midfield. The home side's flankers, Andrew Blowers and Budge Pountney, brought qualities of precision and directness to their work around the fringes that served the model of excellence for their backs among whom Leslie and the Spaniard, Oriol Ripol, were outstanding.
While the Ulster forwards showed a solid presence in the set pieces, they found themselves on the back foot in the rucks and mauls. Predictably the Ulster defenders were hustled and harried into a succession of transgressions on the edge of their 22 which enabled Northampton to stay in the driving seat and keep the scoreboard ticking their way.
Northampton were not unduly worried by the lack of penetration, particularly down the flanks, given the healthy success rate of goalkicker Grayson who landed two penalties in the opening minutes and a couple more by the 25th minute as a result mainly of Ulster's rucking offences. Ulster's David Humphreys also succeeded with two penalties, one a howitzer from near halfway, but Northampton looked good value for their 15-6 half-time lead after the Irish handed Grayson another penalty gift in front of their posts.
Ulster, forced to leave out their captain Jeremy Davidson due to a dead-leg, suffered a further blow when Humphreys, their stand-in skipper, hurt his right leg with half-an-hour gone and reluctantly handed over kicking duties to scrumhalf Neil Doak. The lively Doak narrowly failed with a couple of 40-metre penalty attempts either side of the interval: the feeling that Ulster's prospects were dwindling rapidly was underlined by the 50th minute withdrawal of Humphreys in favour of Adam Larkin.
The confident Saints had still not moved out of third gear when Grayson opened up a 12-point lead with his sixth penalty. With the 9,481 crowd beginning to show impatience with the lack of meaningful action from the backs, England hooker Steve Thompson made an ambitious run deep into the Ulster half. Doak meanwhile got off the mark with a splendid penalty from 45 metres.
Nursing an 18-9 lead in the final quarter, the home pack stuck to their game-plan of picking up and driving into the Ulster defence: the hosts were rewarded near the end with a timely break by Dawson who scored smartly between the posts. Leslie also charged down a clearing kick to score an opportunist try in injury time.
NORTHAMPTON: Beal; Ripol, Tucker, Leslie, Cohen; Grayson, Dawson; Smith, Thompson, Morris, Williams, Connors, Blowers, Pountney, Soden (Seeley 60mins). ULSTER: Cunningham; Topping, Stewart, Bell, Howe; Humphreys (Larkin 50mins), Doak, Fitzpatrick, Sexton, Kempson, Longwell, Blair, Brosniham, McMillan, McWhirter.
Referee: A Lambardi (Italy).
