Aironi 20 Ulster 46:"JOB DONE, move on," was the simple message imparted by Ulster's director of rugby on Saturday after pole position was assumed on the Formula One stage that is Monza.
That the wheels almost buckled in the second half will matter not a whit if qualification is eventually secured come the end of January.
Brian McLaughlin’s men came to Italy to get a bonus-point win, and left with their mission accomplished and their goal still intact.
With Leicester beating Clermont in the other pool fixture, this season’s proverbial pool of death seems destined to go down to the wire, and Ulster will be there kicking and screaming when it does.
Finishing as one of the two best-placed runners-up is not and has never been the intended target. Winning the pool outright is where it’s at.
“Despite being drawn in a very difficult pool, that has been our goal from the start, and we’re going to go into the last round with all guns blazing,” affirmed outhalf Ian Humphreys “We’ve already beaten Clermont at home, and now we’ve secured back-to-back bonus point wins against Aironi anything is possible.
“Now Leicester have to come to Ravenhill to play us, and what a fantastic prospect that is. These are the games everybody wants to be involved in, and it is definitely one for our supporters to look forward to.”
It’s doubtful too many will spend much time looking back on this one, however. Ulster looked good value for a landslide win having registered three tries in the first half, one each for Andrew Trimble and Tom Court, either side of a penalty try awarded in the 25th minute. However, their gallop was reduced to a crawl for large parts of the second half as Aironi bounced back strongly.
The Italian minnows scored two quick-fire tries through Sinoti Sinoti and Roberto Quartaroli to make a game of it, with Ulster’s obvious desperation to land the knockout blow seemingly getting the better of them.
Indeed, for a spell it looked as though their European hopes were turning to dust as Stephen Ferris was asked to fill in as a makeshift centre after a double injury blow to Neven Spence and Paddy Jackson, the latter of whom appeared to be in serious trouble as he was carried from the pitch.
But Aironi were unable to maintain their fight back as Ulster registered three tries in the final 10 minutes. Craig Gilroy’s was the pick of the bunch, simplicity personified in a three-on-two situation, whilst Robbie Diack and Adam Macklin also availed of some decent heads-up rugby in the final two minutes, a commodity in short supply for the visitors after half-time.
“Without looking for excuses, we had a long day yesterday, and a difficult journey down here,” maintained Humphreys when asked to assess of the harum-scarum nature of the second half.
“We probably showed signs of fatigue during the middle third. But even when things weren’t going right for us, we always believed we had the ability to get the score we needed.
“The message was to stay patient and keep doing the simple things well. It took us a bit longer than we would have liked, but we got there in the end, and that’s all that matters.”
AIRONI:R Trevisan; S Sinoti, A Masi, G Pizarro, G Venditti; L Orquera, T Keats; S Perugini, F Ongaro, L Romano; Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami (capt); N Cattina, S Favaro, J Sole. Replacements: De Marchi for Perugini (41 mins), D'Apice for Ongaro, Staibano for Romano, Biagi for Geldenhuys, (all 45 mins)
ULSTER:A D'Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa; J Muller (capt), D Tuohy; S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Replacements: P Jackson for Spence (45 mins), S Terblanche for Trimble, P McAllister for Court (both 50 mins), Tim Barker for Touhy (59 mins), R Diack for Wanneburg, P Marshall for Humphries (both 65 mins), N Brady for Jackosn (67 mins), A Macklin for Henry (77 mins).
Referee: Greg Garner (England).
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