Impressive Ulster in good shape as European campaign beckons

‘I stand bad news better than uncertainty’ is a statement Germany’s football manager Joachim Löw may have uttered late Tuesday evening. But it was in fact French historian Marc Bloch who stated it and in doing so he managed to mirror the mood of his nation.

That he was part of Général de Division Charles Lanrezac’s French Fifth Army at the outbreak of World War I was partly the reason but that he happened to be in the way of the German advance at the Battle of Charleroi was even more so. This forced a monumental retreat as fast as his blistered feet could carry him before Generalissimo of the French Army Joseph Joffre insisted on a mad counterattack at the Battle of Guise.

I agree. Uncertainty is far worse than bad news. Irish rugby has been littered with bad news of injuries these past few weeks. Injuries, although far from ideal, are nothing like uncertainty about performance. Performance is often the result of establishing building blocks within the team and having watched all four provinces this season the building blocks in Ulster are both obvious and successful. In Munster and Connacht the blocks are equally as obvious but are bringing slightly less success thus far.

Talking points

There’s uncertainty in all four provinces based on their having to adapt to ever-growing injury crises but Leinster’s ability to perform in Europe this weekend will be fascinating to watch as I’m almost bored by their play. Ulster on the other hand? Of the three

Champions Cup

matches, Leicester Tiger’s injury woes make Ulster’s away game ideally timed.

Ulster provide so many talking points. One concerns their midfield and their best 12 and 13 combination. Big bashing bruiser Stuart McCloskey at 12 and silky Jared Payne outside him at 13. McCloskey looks so comfortable creating space and his partner looks equally so in his ball-carrying and decision-making.

Payne is someone we all must watch with November on its way but, put simply, he always looks to do the right thing. The measure of class is consistently selecting the correct option while under massive time pressure. And clearly his team-mates are totally tuned into his channel.

At scrumhalf Ulster have yet another talking point. Can they win real competitions with Paul Marshall? He’s super- talented, sharp and very busy with a lightning pass off both hands and over the weeks he’s adding a great kicking game.

But as European action unfolds without the option of the world class Ruan Pienaar, can Marshall dominate and control the tempo and pace of the game a la Pienaar? Is it even fair to compare him to Pienaar?

Ulster's work rate is another talking point. They all work extremely hard but the balance is impressive where number eight Nick Williams for instance ambles about the place wreaking havoc while the flankers Robbie Diack and in particular Chris Henry work their socks off thus helping a backrow of three vastly different physiques and skill- sets to combine into an extremely effective unit.

Williams is a real brute. While his numbers are not massive his impact is; ask Sean Lamont who went off after a Williams hit.

Interestingly, on the other side Glasgow’s No 8 Josh Strauss had a great opening making 12 times more yardage than Williams but was ultimately neutralised by Ulster’s tactics. Glasgow were sensational in hitting weak shoulders getting across the corridor and ultimately offloading and keeping the ball off the deck.

So how did Ulster stymie Glasgow’s offloading game? It’s too simple to state there was lots of impressive defending from Ulster because Glasgow out-offloaded them by 18-8. But as the first half ticked by Ulster’s tactics of mauls, switching the point of attack and wingers popping up helped them power away.

Some of Ulster’s inventiveness came from the old school maul book such as Craig Gilroy’s 66th minute try which was sensational off a dying maul with Marshall sliding open to feint a pop pass as Gilroy attacked the weak shoulders. Another had a lineout hitting midfield with a smart rewind down the blindside with a difference. Instead of hitting the fullback they played a ‘Digger’ ball setting up a forwards pod that evolved into a clever maul that powered up midfield.

Left flank

But their work utilising their wingers, especially blindside winger is sensational. Off a left hand side scrum with 15-metre blindside, Ulster faded going open with Williams pivoting off base to hit Bowe switching into left flank to punch down the line. Both Ulster wingers were superb chasing Marshall’s box kicking – putting immense pressure on the catch. In fact both wingers’ work rate was manifest in them ending up on the wrong wing! However from the several successful breaks, especially from deep, Ulster ended up slowing down quick ball by hitting fatties tight or not staying flat on the gain line which ironically limited a superb win over Glasgow to 29-9.

Finally, with a new weekend of European rugby ahead of us I wonder as Shakespeare has done; what’s in a name, ‘that which we call a rose; by any other name would smell as sweet’. Considering the bad news of injuries and uncertainty of performance I still expect the European rose to smell very sweet for all Irish provinces this weekend.

PS. Bloch managed to negotiate the madness of World War I but unfortunately fell afoul of German occupation in France in June 1944.

liamtoland@yahoo.com