Tonight in a rain-drenched Scottish capital, excellent game management from Ulster edged out Alan Solomons’ side in a low-scoring encounter decided by three successful Paddy Jackson penalties and an unflinching defensive display.
By Neil Carnduff
Tonight in a rain-drenched Scottish capital, excellent game management from Ulster edged out Alan Solomons’ side in a low-scoring encounter decided by three successful Paddy Jackson penalties and an unflinching defensive display.
Poor weather conditions and a patchy Murrayfield pitch put paid to any chance of a free-flowing rugby match in which the likes of Jared Payne, Tommy Bowe and Craig Gilroy could thrive, but Mark Anscombe’s side did enough of the unspectacular yet essential groundwork to maintain their challenge for a RaboDirect top four spot.
Stephen Ferris started his first game in 16 months after proving his fitness in a 20-minute cameo last week against the Scarlets, while Gilroy, Luke Marshall and Iain Henderson all returned to the starting XV. Michael Heaney deputised at scrum-half for the injured Ruan Pienaar with Tom Court taking over from the similarly indisposed Callum Black at loosehead, while the fit-again Dan Tuohy was named on the bench alongside Academy prop Ricky Warwick for his first-ever senior selection.
A strong start from the Murrayfield side kept Ulster camped in their own half for a good seven minutes before Jackson got the opportunity to relieve some pressure with a deep penalty to touch. Edinburgh persisted, however, and fully deserved the lead established through Carl Bezuidenhout’s 15th-minute penalty from half-way.
Edinburgh’s South African out-half could have doubled the lead five minutes later after Henderson had found his way into the sinbin for a dangerous tackle, but his kick fell short of the posts, and Jackson wasted no time in equalising from the Scots’ 22-metre line with a penalty of his own.
Ulster looked to build on their first points from the restart, but with their back three virtual pedestrians due to slippery conditions and a monopoly on the ball enjoyed by the big men up-front, struggled to put together a move of any fluency or dynamism. The forwards did well to win a penalty from a 35th-minute scrum, however, and Jackson was again on hand to slot home and edge his side ahead.
A third effort from Jackson moments later – this one from a good 45 metres – just lacked the sufficient distance, and with half-time looming Ulster defended a hefty Edinburgh onslaught exceptionally well to ensure they ran off at the break with the slenderest of leads.
Half-Time Score Edinburgh 3 Ulster 6
Robbie Diack replaced Ferris at the interval, and with Marshall offering a strong line break on 44 minutes Ulster began to put together a series of promising moves, culminating with the award of another penalty four minutes later, dispatched from the right wing by Jackson.
Ulster enjoyed the majority of possession as the half progressed, and with Nick Williams a 55th-minute replacement for Roger Wilson, the 19-stone Kiwi’s bulk was well-employed as the visitors began to clearly dominate at scrum-time.
Scoring chances remained at a premium, however, with both Bowe and Payne frustrated by poor distribution on the rare occasions when they got the chance to put their hands on the ball, but Marshall again did well to break a couple of tackles on 72 minutes, creating the space for Jackson to pop a drop-goal attempt at the posts, which spun just wide of the right-hand upright.
Nevertheless, Ulster continued to make all of the running, until a final surge from the hosts saw scrum-half Grayson Hart make good ground down the right wing, necessitating some attentive defending from Anscombe’s men to keep the attack at bay until referee John Lacey eventually called time with the Scots penalised for holding on in the tackle.
Thanks to this hard-fought victory Ulster temporarily climb above Munster to second place in the RaboDirect Pro12 standings on 59 points, with the Southern province in action tomorrow at home to Benetton Treviso.
Full-Time Score Edinburgh 3 Ulster 9
Edinburgh (15 – 9) J Cuthbert; D Fife, S Beard, A Strauss, T Brown; C Bezuidenhout, G Hart (1 – 8) W Blaauw, R Ford, W Nel, G Gilchrist, I van der Westhuizen, M Coman (c), R Grant, C Du Preez.
Replacements: J Hilterbrand, A Allen, E McQuillin, O Atkins, T Leonardi, S Kennedy, H Leonard, N De Luca
Ulster (15 – 9) J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, M Heaney (1 – 8) T Court, R Herring, J Afoa, J Muller (c), I Henderson, S Ferris, S Doyle, R Wilson.
Replacements: N Annett, A Warwick, R Lutton, D Tuohy, N Williams, R Diack, P Marshall, S McCloskey