Gritty Ulster able to turn the tide

Ulster 16 Clermont Auvergne 11: In the end Ulster deserved their victory, if for nothing else other than their sheer willpower and intensity. They played through the 80 minutes in search of victory; Clermont Auvergne devoted their time after the interval into trying not to lose. The subtle difference was reflected on the scoreboard.

It was far from a vintage performance from the home side; too many errors, too many poor decisions and too many turnovers but to their credit, they applied themselves diligently and the reward came.

Ian Humphreys scored all 16 points, Stephen Ferris (who was withdrawn with four minutes remaining with an ankle injury) was immense, as was Rory Best and to be fair the entire Ulster pack. The back play though was largely ineffective although Andrew Trimble’s running caused the French side all sorts of problems, while Darren Cave enjoyed some high profile moments.

Ulster’s more direct style in the second half was the catalyst for this win. For their part, Clermont will reflect on what might have been.

Ulster will reflect on an opening 40 minutes where they were primarily responsible for their own travails. The sixth minute try scored by Clermont left wing Noa Nakaitaci was ridiculously soft. Visiting fullback Lee Byrne glided through a gap that shouldn’t have been there had Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble vocalised who should make the tackle: neither did and Byrne was able to race into the 22 before offloading to his supporting wing.

Morgan Parra missed the conversion, having earlier failed with a more straightforward penalty. The tone for those initial exchanges, certainly as far as the home side was concerned, was set when Pedrie Wannenburg failed to secure the opening kick-off.

Ulster enjoyed a sufficiency in terms of possession but they lacked accuracy in trying to execute, particularly behind the scrum, where passes were forced and general movement was far too lateral. Cave and Trimble did show some neat footwork at times but the home side were denying themselves space.

This, coupled with some poor handling, proved costly as decent field position was carelessly tossed away as ball was spilled in contact. Ferris, Court, Afoa and Chris Henry carried strongly but there was too much of a disconnection between carrier and those running supporting lines.

Humphreys kicked two penalties for Ulster, a feat matches by his Clermont counterpart David Skrela, the home side’s best chance of a try following a quick tap penalty from the lively Paul Marshall. Cave demonstrated good balance to keep the move alive but following three rucks, Humphreys tried to force a pass that was picked off: in mitigation one of the two supporting players should have changed the angle to fix the drift.

The home side did force the concession of three penalties at scrum time but encountered one or two problems in trying to stop Clermont’s maul. When the French side conceded a fourth penalty five minutes into the second half, Humphreys watched his effort hook past the right hand upright but converted an easier opportunity from 18 metres on 50 minutes after a great Tuohy surge.

Clermont changed their two props and it was Ulster who were penalised twice at scrums, Afoa both times, the second of which was costly because they had the put in on the French side’s 22 straight in front of the posts.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin also replaced his starting props but it was a piece of wonderful counter-attacking play that transformed the match from the home side’s perspective. Clermont’s Elvis Vermeulen spilled the ball in contact and Ulster moved the ball wide from the turnover.

Replacement fullback Adam D’Arcy glided into the line, handed off one tackler, eased between two others, accelerated into the Clermont 22 and timed his inside pass perfectly to the supporting Humphreys who negotiated the final 15 metres. The outhalf posted a brilliant touchline conversion to ease his side to a 16-11 advantage.

Brock James missed a second penalty, Ferris, who had an brilliant game limped off and Ulster, despite not being at their fluent best, demonstrated grit and character to eke out a deserved victory on an afternoon when it could easily have slipped away.

Scoring sequence: 6 mins: Nakaitaci try, 0-5; 11 mins: Humphreys penalty, 3-5; 17 mins: Skrela penalty, 3-8; 38 mins: Skrela penalty, 3-11. 39 mins: Humphreys penalty, 6-11. Half-time: 6-11. 50 mins: Humphreys penalty, 9-11; 69 mins: Humphreys try, Humphreys conversion, 16-11.

Ulster: S Danielli; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, P Marshall; T Court, R Best, J Afoa; J Muller, D Tuohy; S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Replacements: A D'Arcy for Danielli 55 mins; P McAllister for Court 67 mins; D Fitzpatrick for Afoa 67 mins; W Faloon for Ferris 76 mins.

Clermont Auvergne: L Byrne; W Fofana, A Rougerie, R King, N Nakaitaci; D Skrela, M Parra; L Faure, B Kayser, D Zirakashvili; N Hines, J Pierre; J Bonnaire, G Vosloo, E Vermeulen. Replacements: M Kotze for Zirakashvili 50 mins; B James for Skrela 50 mins; C Ric for Faure 60 mins; J Bardy for Vermeulen 64 mins; J White for Pierre 71 mins; J-M Buttin for King 71 mins; King for Byrne 78 mins.

Attendance: 9,385

Referee: W Barnes (England).