LEICESTER TIGERS 13 ULSTER 14

Ulster booked themselves a Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final slot courtesy of an epic second half comeback this afternoon at Welford Road, closing out the group stage second in Pool Four on 22 points – a tally that ensures sixth or seventh seeding in the play-offs. Trailing by 13 points to zero on 50 minutes after a flat and error-strewn first half display, the introduction of star scrum-half John Cooney spurred Dan McFarland’s side into life, with tries from Marty Moore and Robert Baloucoune either side of the hour mark – and Cooney’s two conversions – snatching the win. The returning Iain Henderson was also imperious in the victory, and while several permutations are still possible with matches to be played later this evening and tomorrow, a quarter final away to Leinster or Racing 92 at the end of March looks set to be Ulster’s reward. The return from injury of Henderson was the only change to the starting XV which recorded last week’s famous victory over Racing, with the lock back in action earlier than expected – and in time for Ireland’s Six Nations campaign – after undergoing thumb surgery in December. Otherwise Ulster lined up with Louis Ludik at full-back, Baloucoune and Jacob Stockdale – both scorers against Racing – on the wings, and the centre pairing of Will Addison and Stuart McCloskey. Billy Burns continued at out-half while David Shanahan was rewarded for his gutsy display against Racing with selection ahead of McFarland’s nominal first-choice scrum-half Cooney. Henderson slotted into an otherwise unchanged pack of props Eric O’Sullivan and Marty Moore, hooker Rory Best, fellow second row Kieran Treadwell, and a back row of Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee. After early errors in the form of a knock-on apiece in the opening minutes, Ulster settled more quickly with both Stockdale and Coetzee tearing up the Welford Road turf as they strove to turn defence into attack. But a Baloucoune knock-on on 12 minutes presented Tigers with the game’s first real scoring chance – although fine collective defending from Ulster kept their raids at bay until the youngster was able to win a turnover and clear. The first quarter ending scoreless, Ulster found themselves hampered by poor lineout put-ins as the game progressed, losing their third from five early in the second quarter from a promising position after a high tackle on Addison by Brendon O’Connor. Leicester fared little better ball in hand, with two poor passes from scrum-half Ben Youngs drawing knock-ons from his team-mates within a matter of minutes, but successfully opened the scoring on the half hour courtesy of a George Ford penalty. However a severely overcooked clearance from Youngs gifted Ulster a scrum in Tigers territory, although the chance soon went begging after a strong run from McCloskey, as no-one in red had the presence of mind to fill in at scrum-half with Shanahan on the floor and presenting the ball, and Leicester helped themselves to an easy steal. Ulster’s task got more difficult still on 36 minutes when they lost Coetzee to a leg injury, replaced by Nick Timoney, before a pinpoint grubber from Ford eliminated Burns and Best deep in their own ‘22’, with centre Matt Toomua first to the ball for the try on the stroke of half-time, converted by Ford for a 10-point lead. Half-Time Score Leicester Tigers 10 Ulster 0 Tigers started the second half in a similarly dominant fashion, eventually cashing in on 10 minutes of possession through another Ford penalty. Cooney took over from Shanahan at this stage, and was soon in the thick of it as Ulster put together their best phase of attack thus far, eschewing an easy three points on 52 minutes to play a lineout which Leicester eventually pinched. The visitors’ next lineout functioned better, however, and although the breakthrough failed to come after three minutes of patient probing, a Leicester offside set up a five-metre put-in, and Moore forced his way over from the resulting rolling maul. Cooney’s conversion brought his side into losing bonus-point territory on the hour mark, but the Ulster aspirations were clearly higher than settling for the single point they needed to secure qualification, an exquisite Burns chip to the corner five minutes later getting Baloucoune in for his second in two games, the winger allowed the luxury to ground right under the posts to give his scrum-half the easiest of conversions. After surviving a scare shortly after the restart with prop Greg Bateman brought down mere metres from the line by Baloucoune, Ulster went on to soak up a seemingly interminable amount of Leicester pressure until possession was wrenched back on 73 minutes. Ulster kept the ball well as the clock wound down into the final five minutes, surrendering it to a penalty with three to go, but were spared by a crooked put-in from replacement hooker Ross McMillan, and this time saw out the clock before kicking to touch just as soon as they could after the 80-minute mark. Full-Time Score Leicester Tigers 13 Ulster 14 Leicester Tigers (15 – 9) Jonah Holmes; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Matt Toomua, Jordan Olowofela; George Ford, Ben Youngs (1 – 8) Greg Bateman, Jake Kerr, Dan Cole, Michael Fitzgerald, Graham Kitchener, Mike Williams, Brendon O’Connor, Sione Kalamafoni Replacements (16 – 23) Ross McMillan, Facundo Gigena, Joe Heyes, Hary Wells, Will Evans, Ben White, Joe Ford, Sam Aspland-Robinson Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Robert Baloucoune, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, David Shanahan (1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rory Best (c), Marty Moore, Iain Henderson, Kieran Treadwell, Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee Replacements (16 – 23) Rob Herring, Andrew Warwick, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor, Nick Timoney, John Cooney, Michael Lowry, Darren Cave