Depleted Ulster show some pride in terrible conditions

It was already over for Ulster in Pool C of the Heineken Cup before they entered the rugby hotbed of Stradey Park, but at least they showed a little pride in stretching Llanelli in the most demanding of conditions.

Indeed the scoreline rather flattered the Welsh champions whose chances of reaching the knock-out stages were helped by two tries at either end of the game.

Savaged by injury and illness, Ulster put up a brave performance. But, unfortunately, they were still unable to cross their opponents line - a striking fact that had stuck with them over 320 and more minutes of play in this season's disappointing Heineken Cup campaign.

Coach Harry Williams had to quickly readjust his mindset on the morning of the game when both skipper David Humphreys and flanker Andy Ward could not fend off the flu bug that ravaged the squad earlier in the week.

But with Paddy Johns leading by example on being handed the captaincy, the depleted Ulster side, which ended with a total of seven changes from last week's outing, did ask plenty of questions of a Llanelli side that was missing Welsh number eight Scott Quinnell.

Llanelli, though had another star in the back-row with Ireland qualified Simon Easterby, playing at openside, showed just why he has come under the microscope of Warren Gatland and could be included in the Ireland coaches pre-Six Nations training panel.

Easterby was one of the reasons why Ulster left the Scarlets domain without any joy. He was a constant thorn with his crunching tackles and speed to the breakdown.

Ulster were hit right away when following a series of scrums near their line, Welsh lock Chris Wyatt, who was featuring at blindside forward, barged his way over with flyhalf Stephen Jones adding the conversion.

But Ulster didn't fold or disappear into the sea of mud which the continuous downpour engineered. Errors were aplenty and constructive rugby outside the scrums was rare.

Nevertheless there were a few positive things to come from the contest for Ulster, whose points once again came from the boot of Simon Mason. He landed a solitary penalty in the first half, his only kick at goal, as Llanelli's discipline and fierce tackling around the fringes never allowed Ulster to ruin their Festive break.

The game was at times fractious with Johns very much to the fore in the fierce exchanges between the forwards. Eric Miller, before he went off with a knee injury, shortly after the restart, was again prominent, as was Justin Fitzpatrick who put in a lively performance around the park, while Humphreys' replacement Niall Malone settling down well after a nervous start.

But the one reason why Ulster have drawn a blank this season so far, is that they just cannot secure primary possession going forward. Once again the scrums were a little dodgy and the line-outs were just a lottery in the wind and rain.

Jonathan Bell did his best to break through the tight Llanelli defence during a frenetic last quarter, but it was Llanelli who had the final say when the wily Rupert Moon found a gap in the Ulster fringe defence to set-up a forward rumble and prop John Davies was able to cruise in at the posts.

Coach Harry Williams was obviously disappointed, but not totally dejected. "The conditions were horrendous, but I cannot use that as an excuse. I thought we fought extremely well, and just frustrated that we didn't get more from the game. Last season everything fell for us, but it's the opposite now. Absolutely nothing has gone for us."

Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Wyatt try, Jones con, 7-0; 16: Jones pen, 10-0; 22: Mason pen, 10-3; 53: Jones pen, 13-3; 72: Davies try, Jones con, 203.

ULSTER: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, J Cunningham, S Bromley; N Malone, S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, R Weir, J Veitayaki, G Longwell, P Johns (capt), D O'Cuinneagain, E Miller, D Topping. Replacements: S McKinty for Miller (45), S Best for Veitayaki (73).

LLANELLI: M Cardey; W Proctor (capt), N Boobyer, S finau, D James; S Jones, P Horgan; P Booth, R McBryde, J Davies, V Cooper, C Gillies, C Wyatt, H Jenkins, S Easterby. Replacements: M Madden for Davies (76), S Emms for Booth (40), I Boobyer for Wyatt Wyatt (54), R Moon for Horgan (47).

Referee: C White (RFU).