Six of the best from man-of-the-match Paddy Jackson capped a patient and measured display from Ulster tonight at the Liberty Stadium, as they came from behind to edge out a strong Ospreys side.
Jackson’s six second-half penalties trumped the four from his opposite number Dan Biggar, as the out-half’s finest kicking performance in an Ulster jersey to date lifted Mark Anscombe’s men to third in the RaboDirect Pro 12 standings – two points behind tonight’s opponents, and a mere single point behind early form team Glasgow Warriors.
The first half was a scrappy affair under slippery conditions, which the visitors just edged in terms of possession, territory and opportunities – although they also topped the count for errors and penalties conceded, and were disappointed to run off at half-time with nothing to show for their efforts.
Ulster did more than hold their own in the match’s opening salvo, soaking up early Ospreys pressure before crafting together an impressive string of passes from right to left and back again, making good yardage through Darren Cave in particular before they knocked on inside the home ‘22’.
Craig Gilroy limped off with an ankle injury on 13 minutes to make way for David McIlwaine at full-back, but the scoreboard remained blank until the 20-minute mark, when Biggar broke the deadlock with a central penalty. Ulster did their best to strike back instantly, Nick Williams and Dan Tuohy pounding the Ospreys defence in trademark fashion, but the Welsh resisted with equal force until the attack ran out of space on the left wing and McIlwaine knocked on under pressure.
Several opportunities came and went as Ulster continued to enjoy the lion’s share of the ball, but a late infringement by Tuohy – pulled up for grappling Alun-Wyn Jones around the neck in a ruck – allowed Biggar to double his side’s tally just before the break.
Half-Time Score Ospreys 6 Ulster 0
The Ospreys out-half extended his side’s lead further a mere 60 seconds into the second period after Michael Allen had strayed offside at Paul Marshall’s clearance kick, despite vocal warnings from referee Peter Fitzgibbon. Then, when Luke Marshall failed to roll away in the tackle on 43 minutes, Biggar compounded the Ulster misery with another penalty – this one an exemplary effort from just inside the visitors’ half.
Marshall was shortly withdrawn as a result of the impact of his previous tackle, bringing Stuart Olding – so impressive at centre last term – into the fray for his first run-out of the season. Jackson then launched the Ulster revival on 49 minutes with a well-taken penalty of his own after an infringement by Adam Jones, and rapidly reduced the gap back to six points courtesy of a further kick in the 53rd minute, with Joe Bearman penalised for offside at the lineout.
With Iain Henderson thrown into the mix in place of Robbie Diack on 55 minutes, Jackson capitalised on a collapsed Ospreys scrum to kick over three more points, and, as Ulster began to find their swagger in the final quarter, good ball-carrying from the replacement back row on three occasions in the same move eventually earned Jackson his fourth penalty of the half, dispatched without fuss on 65 minutes.
Although honours were now even, Ulster had tellingly scored all their points in a prolific 15-minute period, and were clearly in the ascendancy. With Jackson in such fine kicking form, the out-half had the confidence to go for the posts from well outside his usual range on 72 minutes when Mr Fitzgibbon whistled an Ospreys offside, and his self-belief proved well-founded, as the penalty sailed over from a good 45 metres.
With five minutes remaining, replacement prop Aaron Jarvis paid the price for repeated infringements by his colleagues, as his failure to roll away in the tackle saw him yellow-carded. Jackson delivered the goods once again with a curved kick from the left wing, and, although Olding soon joined Jarvis in the bin for the same offence, Ulster resisted the inevitable Ospreys onslaught to run down the clock deep in their own ‘22’.
Jackson’s virtuoso performance from the boot, coupled with the solid team performance – and the imminent return of star men Ruan Pienaar and John Afoa – should put Ulster in confident mood for next Friday’s visit of Leicester Tigers, as the 2013/14 Heineken Cup campaign kicks off at Ravenhill.
Ospreys (15 – 9) R Fussell; J Hassler, A Bishop, A Beck, E Walker; D Biggar, T Tebaldi (1 – 8) R Bevington, R Hibbard, A Jones, A-W Jones (c), I Evans, T Ardron, J Tipuric, J Bearman
Replacements (16 – 23) S Baldwin, D Jones, A Jarvis, J King, S Lewis, T Habberfield, M Morgan, B John
Ulster (15 – 9) C Gilroy; A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, M Allen; P Jackson, P Marshall (1 – 8) T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams
Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, C Black, B Ross, I Henderson, R Wilson, M Heaney, S Olding, D McIlwaine