HEINEKEN CUP POOL FOUR: Aironi 6 Ulster 43:THE MAGNITUDE of the achievement rather than the composition of the victory offered the more pertinent aspect of Ulster's triumph at the Stadio Luigi Zafanella.
The province bridged a 12-year hiatus from the knockout stages of the tournament with a six-try salvo that earned a place in the quarter-finals. Biarritz Olympique’s five -point haul against Bath means the French side rather than Ulster go forward as pool winners.
Ulster’s performance seesawed from the imprecision of the first half to a clinical dissection of a tiring Italian franchise after the interval.
The visitors began brightly, keeping the ball in hand and using the full expanse of the playing surface but gradually mistakes crept in as they tried to force their patterns at times.
Ulster were guilty of being a little sloppy at ruck time in not clearing out effectively and there were occasions when the offload was the riskier option. They needed to be more patient and work their opportunities rather than looking for the killer pass. Given what was at stake, a certain anxiety was understandable.
Coach Brian McLaughlin admitted: “It’s a fantastic achievement that has been a long time coming for everyone involved with Ulster over the year. It’s a smashing day for us; to be involved at this stage is a magnificent achievement.
“In terms of Biarritz winning, well you can never rely on anyone else to do a job for you. You have to do it yourself so we came here to win and push for the bonus point and maybe that would keep things in our hands.
“But all credit to Biarritz, they are a very good team.
“We came out of the blocks in the first half and got an early penalty. We also scored a nice try but then we let Aironi come back at us. We forced the game too much. We turned over ball at vital times and that put pressure on ourselves. But we stood strong in the second half, kept control and finally got the reward.”
It was an accurate synopsis of the contest. Ian Humphreys kicked an early penalty and when Aironi were given the chance to reciprocate in kind they instead went to the corner: it was an instructive statement of intent.
Ulster crossed for their first try on 22 minutes as scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar cleverly worked the short-side from a scrum on the halfway line. Adam D’Arcy glided through a gap and his perfectly timed pass allowed Andrew Trimble to scamper under the posts. Humphreys added the conversion and it seemed the visitors were set fair to exploit the pace and intensity with which they were taking the game to their hosts.
Aironi, though, had other ideas and as Ulster errors and turnovers mounted, outhalf James Marshall dropped a neat goal and replacement scrumhalf Tito Tebaldi kicked a penalty to leave Ulster with just a 10-6 interval lead.
The visitors were forced to defend more than they would have wanted and in this respect no one did do with more authority than the excellent Stephen Ferris; he had a fine match until forced off with a knee injury midway through the second half.
Ulster effectively decided the outcome in the opening five minutes after the resumption when number eight Pedrie Wannenburg crossed for a brace of tries, both the product of well directed and powerful mauls from close-in. It was a fitting reward for the Springbok who had a super afternoon.
Humphreys tagged on the conversions and at 24-6 the outcome had ceased to be an issue. Ulster duly guaranteed the bonus point when referee Christophe Berdos awarded them a penalty try on 56 minutes after they shredded the Aironi scrum for a second time in a matter of seconds. Ferris departed injured following this particular passage of play.
It simply reaffirmed the dominance of the Ulster eight in the tight: Declan Fitzpatrick and Nigel Brady had filled in admirably for the injured Rory Best and BJ Botha. Ireland forwards coach Gert Smal, who watched the game from the stands alongside Italy coach Nick Mallett, will have noted some good performances from an Irish context, particularly Tom Court, Ferris and Dan Tuohy.
A raft of replacements on both sides saw the play fracture somewhat but Ulster managed to rediscover some fluency in the final 15 minutes. Wannenburg’s break and offload from the back of a scrum created a try for replacement Chris Henry and with just three minutes remaining, the Ulster pack won a scrum against the head and Simon Danielli cruised down the touchline for the sixth try of the game.
No matter what Ulster go on to achieve in this tournament they have removed the millstone of not qualifying for the knockout stages.
To do so, they beat Bath and Aironi home and away and toughed it out in appalling conditions at Ravenhill to edge past Biarritz.
They only time during their pool campaign in which they played consistently poorly was the second half in their defeat away to the French side.
Their primary goal has been achieved; it’ll be time to set a new one in a couple of months.
Scoring sequence:2 mins: Humphreys pen, 0-3; 22: Trimble try, Humphreys con, 0-10; 25: Marshall dp gl, 3-10; 36: Tebaldi pen, 6-10. Half-time: 6-10. 42: Wannenburg try, Humphreys con, 6-17; 45: Wannenburg try, Humphreys con, 6-24; 56: pen try, Humphreys con, 6-31; 66: Henry try, Humphreys con, 6-38; 77: Danielli try, 6-43.
AIRONI RUGBY: J Laharrague; P Canavosio, R Penney, G Pavan, M Pratichetti; J Marshall, M Wilson; M Aguero, F Ongaro, F Staibano; M Bortolami, Q Geldenhuys (capt); V Liebenberg, J Erasmus, J Sole. Replacements: T Tebaldi for Wilson (12 mins); A Birchall for Liebenburg (46 mins); G Pizarro for Pavan (48 mins); R Bocchino for Laharrague (50 mins); S Perugini for Aguero, C del Fava for Geldenhuys (both 57 mins); R Santamaria for Tebaldi, A di Marchi for Staibano (both 67 mins).
ULSTER:A D'Arcy; A Trimble, N Spence, P Wallace, S Danielli; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, N Brady, D Fitzpatrick; J Muller (capt), D Tuohy; S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg. Replacements:B Young for Fitzpatrick, C Henry for Ferris (both 57 mins); D McIlwaine for Trimble (63 mins); P Marshall for Pienaar (65 mins); J Cronin for Court, T Barker for Tuohy, I Whitten for Wallace, A Kyriacou for Brady (all 67 mins).
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
