Ulster party like it's 1999 again

Ulster 22 Edinburgh 19:THIS SHOWING will not come close to winning a Heineken Cup but all Ulster needed to do was win a semi-final, by any means.

They know it but at least they can use the glaring flaws evident here as a springboard for the greatest challenge ever faced in their storied and proud history. Much like they did in Dublin on Saturday, the Red Hand brigade will descend upon London come May 19th.

“I would say our performance was very, very disappointing but we are really, really pleased with the result,” said outgoing Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin.

“We have got a final at Twickenham now to look forward to and the guys know they didn’t perform at their best level today but they know there is a lot more in them.”

McLaughlin deserves individual praise with two of his three selection decisions bearing fruit. Two were enforced, with Chris Henry injured and John Afoa suspended, but the brave call to go for Paddy Jackson ahead of Ian Humphreys at outhalf worked.

Ulster’s potential area of grave weakness, the scrum – without their expensive All Black signing Afoa – yielded a rich harvest of 16 points.

Home-grown tighthead Declan Fitzpatrick soldiered for 65 minutes in a performance of a lifetime that gives the 28-year-old’s stalled career a huge blast of oxygen.

He can take sizeable credit for the flawless Ruan Pienaar’s penalties on five and 58 minutes while their rampant scrum saw Pedrie Wannenburg muscle over for a 16th-minute try.

Willie Faloon on the flank for Henry was not so successful with the lightweight, Connacht-bound openside struggling to make a noticeable impact.

Be certain, both Afoa and Henry must return for the final. The former’s suspension will be served but Henry’s ankle remains a genuine concern.

The progress of Michael Bradley’s Edinburgh to this juncture has been widely praised but really, on this, albeit industrious, performance seems more a reflection on the inability of their French opponents Racing Metro and Toulouse to replicate their domestic form in Europe as it is a great leap for Scottish rugby.

All Edinburgh and Scottish rugby seems to be doing is keeping the ball alive for multiple phases. Good loose forwards, enthusiastic darting halfbacks, but zero end product.

That said, individuals like Mike Blair and David Denton were constant threats while Greig Laidlaw, although playing laterally from pivot, kicked his goals to keep it interesting until Pienaar’s fifth penalty made it a two-score game with five minutes remaining.

The Wannenburg try seems crucial now but only because of Edinburgh’s patent failure to convert the try-scoring chances that came their way thereafter. It was a simple pick and drive from the number eight after Edinburgh openside Ross Rennie broke his bind and then missed the tackle.

Referee Romain Poite had a good game, letting plenty of knock-ons go unpunished as the attacking team was given the benefit of the doubt.

However, the decision of his touch judge Pascal Gauzere to recommend the sin-binning of Stefan Terblanche on 28 minutes should have given Edinburgh a platform to gain control of the contest.

The former Springbok got 10 minutes for “punching” Ross Ford in a ruck. It was a light slap and the Scottish hooker had him head-locked.

A harsh call but Edinburgh proceeded to show they were out of their depth by butchering a number of scoring opportunities with sloppy handling errors. Netani Talei and Matt Scott were particularly guilty in this regard.

Terblanche returned just after Pienaar made it 13-6 as Lee Jones was in front of Laidlaw’s kick. It was a marginally correct call but still seemed harsh.

Ulster’s defence was immense during this 14-man period and their luck also held when Stephen Ferris avoided what seemed a certain yellow card for reaching through the ruck and slapping the ball from Blair’s hand. Right under Poite’s nose.

It resulted in just a penalty which Laidlaw landed to leave it 13-9 at the turn. The scrumhalf turned outhalf made it 13-12 early in the second half but that was when Johann Muller, Rory Best and the rest of the Ulster eight took matters into their own hands.

The lineout maul, coupled with constant security at scrum-time, ground their opponents down. It was cup rugby alright, as Edinburgh coach Bradley stated if his team could just edge in front it would have forced Ulster into a more adventurous attitude.

Really, in this third period Ulster should have killed the contest but Dan Tuohy was held just short of the line while Wannenburg, astonishingly, had the ball ripped from his grasp by Laidlaw.

But it mattered little. The 11th Ulster scrum of the game yielded another three points from Pienaar to make it 16-12 on 58 minutes. Four minutes later the maul delivered another penalty, and another cracking shot from this world star duly made it 19-12.

It was Natal Sharks rugby alright; when Edinburgh fumbled two more attacks, it was Terblanche who strode out of the Ulster 22 and almost put Craig Gilroy into open country.

Not a game for a winger mind, but semi-finals rarely are.

Darren Cave did get in on the act with a thumping tackle in midfield on Jim Thompson with Pienaar landing the killer blow moments later with his easiest penalty of the day.

The late Edinburgh try by Thompson and touchline conversion from Laidlaw were irrelevant as time was up and the Ulstermen in the 45,147 crowd were partying like it was 1999 all over again.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 5 mins: Pienaar penalty, 3-0; 8: Laidlaw penalty, 3-3; 11: Laidlaw penalty, 3-6; 15: Wannenburg try, Pienaar conversion, 10-6; 38: Pienaar penalty, 13-6; 40: Laidlaw penalty, 13-9. Half-time: 13-9. 45: Laidlaw penalty, 13-12; 58: Pienaar penalty, 16-12; 62: Pienaar penalty, 19-12; 75: Pienaar penalty, 22-12. 80: Thompson try, Laidlaw conversion, 22-19.

ULSTER: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick; J Muller (capt), D Tuohy; S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg. Replacements: A Macklin for Fitzpatrick (65 mins), R Diack for Faloon (73 mins), P McAllister for Court (77 mins), L Stevenson for Ferris (77 mins).

EDINBURGH: T Brown; L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser; G Laidlaw (capt), M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross; G Gilchrist, S Cox; D Denton, R Rennie, N Talei. Replacements: R Grant for Rennie (56 mins), J Thompson for Jones (70 mins), J Gilding for Cross (73 mins), K Traynor for Jacobsen (77 mins), S Turnbull for Gilchrist (77 mins).

Referee: Romain Poite (France).

Yellow card: Stefan Terblanche (Ulster) 28 mins.