By Neil Carnduff
Reigning champions Toulon confirmed Ulster’s European exit this afternoon with an eight-try masterclass of attacking rugby, but the province can leave the Stade Félix Mayol with their heads held high after a battling display and four tries of their own.
Scores from Paddy Jackson, Mike McComish (2) and Jared Payne secured a four-try bonus for the visitors, forced to reshuffle their backline several times in the course of the match after injuries to Louis Ludik, Jackson and Stuart Olding – the first two of which look likely to lead to lengthy lay-offs.
Toulon are the first side to qualify for the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup on the back of today’s victory, while Ulster, bottom of Pool Three on seven points, must defeat Leicester Tigers next Saturday at the Kingspan Stadium to have a chance of finishing above the Scarlets in the final standings.
Seven personnel changes from last week’s Pro12 victory in Treviso handed McComish his very first start of the season, with Robbie Diack dropping to the bench. Also in the pack, an all-new front row of Andy Warwick, Rob Herring and Bronson Ross lined up ahead of fellow returnee Franco van der Merwe, back in contention after illness. Alan O’Connor kept his place at lock alongside van der Merwe, while Clive Ross and captain Roger Wilson teamed with McComish in the back row.
Among the backs, Payne returned to the starting XV for his first outing at full-back of the 2014/15 campaign, while Michael Allen got his first European start of the season on the left wing. Payne’s return saw Ludik move from full-back to the right wing, while Darren Cave and Olding continued in the centre, as did Jackson and Ruan Pienaar in the half-back slots.
Toulon, victorious in all 13 of their previous home games in the premier European competition, needed no more than three minutes to register their first try, Nicolas Sanchez exploiting a gap in the Ulster defence from Maxime Mermoz’s pass to dart through unopposed from the ‘22’.
Leigh Halfpenny’s conversion dispatched, a penalty soon followed to extend the lead to 10 points before a re-focused Ulster put together some champagne rugby of their own, with Jackson instrumental both at the source and the mouth. The out-half latched on to a smart backwards flick from Pienaar just outside the ‘22’, beat his man and quickly supplied Cave to keep the move alive. Sharp recycling followed from the forwards, until McComish’s looped pass found the now laterally-positioned Jackson, whose side-step evaded Bryan Habana’s tackle for the try.
Although Jackson’s conversion sailed wide – and Halfpenny soon topped up the Toulon tally with a penalty – Ulster showed no signs of discouragement and indeed a 20th-minute catch-and-drive ended with the impressive McComish grounding amid a sea of bodies both friend and foe, the try validated by TMO Gareth Simmonds after several reviews.
Incidents followed thick and fast, with Jackson’s second conversion missing the target and Ludik sustaining a knock to the ribs from a brave sliding challenge for a 50-50 ball, replaced by Ian Humphreys from the bench. With an improvised backline of Olding at full-back, Payne and Humphreys on the wings, and Cave and Allen in the centre, Ulster continued to frustrate Toulon’s natural game until the half-hour mark when, with Jackson receiving treatment on the field, Habana picked up from Mathieu Bastareaud on the left wing to sprint over for his second try against the province this season.
As Halfpenny converted, Jackson exited nursing an ominous-looking elbow injury, and with Paul Marshall entering the fray, Toulon soon capitalised on the disruption in their opponents’ ranks, Bastareaud resisiting Herring’s valiant tap-tackle attempt to triple-roll over the line, Halfpenny converting just before the break.
Half-Time Score Toulon 27 Ulster 10
Ulster opened the second period with their tails up, but soon fell victim to yet another injury, Olding this time taking a knock to the arm, and replaced by Michael Heaney – Ulster’s third scrum-half among the 15 on the field. Martin Castrogiovanni showed no sympathy for his beleaguered opponents on 48 minutes, as he picked up from Juan Smith off the lineout and took Wilson’s tackle in his stride to ground right on the whitewash.
Halfpenny maintained his 100% kicking record with the conversion, and as Toulon began to run away with the encounter, try number five came on 57 minutes courtesy of a sublimely fluent move finished off by the right-hand corner flag by Steffon Armitage and converted once more by the Welshman.
The sixth try two minutes later was even more aesthetically pleasing, the Toulon forwards showing quick hands that most backs can only aspire to, and replacement flanker Mamuka Gorgodze touching down at the end of a series of dozen pinpoint passes. Halfpenny added another conversion, then a seventh after Armitage had grabbed himself another try from a rolling maul.
Ulster salvaged some pride on 68 minutes, Payne grounding a neat try from Humphreys’ kick to the corner after excellent ball-carrying and recycling from both McComish and O’Connor. As had Jackson’s, Pienaar’s conversion attempt failed to trouble the posts, but the Ulster scoring was still not quite complete, McComish helping himself to his second personal try on the back of a rolling maul.
Pienaar converted but there was still time for a further addition to the scoreboard, Armitage brushing off Allen’s tackle to land his hat-trick try in the left-hand corner.
Full-Time Score Toulon 60 Ulster 22
RC Toulonnais (15 – 9) L Halfpenny; D Mitchell, M Bastareaud, M Mermoz, B Habana; N Sanchez, S Tillous-Borde (1 – 8) X Chiocci, G Guirado, M Castrogiovanni, J Suta, R Taofifenua, J Smith, S Armitage, C Masoe (c)
Replacements (16 – 23) J-C Orioli, F Fresia, C Hayman, M Gorgodze, R Wulf, D Smith, E Escande, K Mikautadze
Ulster (15 – 9) J Payne; L Ludik, D Cave, S Olding, M Allen; P Jackson, R Pienaar (1 – 8) A Warwick, R Herring, B Ross, A O’Connor, F van der Merwe, C Ross, M McComish, R Wilson (c)
Replacements (16 – 23) J Andrew, C Black, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, R Diack, P Marshall, I Humphreys, M Heaney