Ulster 9 Biarritz 6:THE TUMULTUOUS roar that greeted the final whistle at Ravenhill was borne of relief and delight as the majority of the 10,556 spectators sought to expel the pent-up tension of a Heineken Cup tie that was only decided 90 seconds from the final whistle.
There were no mathematical calculations on peripheral pool issues to soften the acclamation of the Ulster supporters or indeed the reaction of the combatants: a handful of Ulster players who had the energy bounced into embraces, most though simply collapsed to the turf.
Their Biarritz Olympique counterparts appeared numb in expression as well as of limb as they tried to reconcile how they had come so close to eking out a draw that arguably wasn’t merited on a filthy Belfast afternoon of blustery winds and sheeting rain.
Hooker Benoit August stared at referee Nigel Owens as if somehow willing the Welsh official to turn back time and retract his decision to award Ulster a penalty in the final throes of the contest. Opinion on the merits of that moment was always going to be subjective. Biarritz’s backs’ coach Jack Isaac admitted: “The last penalty hurt us.
“I am not sure that we were at fault, but I could be wrong. It might have gone in the other direction but that is not to say that because of that incident alone we lost the match. We should have accumulated more points with the wind in the first half. It’s a pity we didn’t manage to hold out for the draw in the end but we did congratulate the players for the point we did get because it puts our fate in our own hands. They gave everything.”
The French side know that a bonus-point victory over Bath at Parc des Sports Aguilera next Saturday afternoon will suffice to claim pool honours irrespective of what Ulster manage to achieve across the Alps against Aironi at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana by virtue of a superior record in the head-to-head encounters. The mercurial Bath’s thumping victory over the Italian side last weekend suggests Biarritz’s four-try aspirations are no mere bagatelle.
The Irish province will chase more than one prize in Italy because even if they miss out on overall pool honours, a four-try bonus point win may be good enough to secure them one of two coveted runners-up spots and a place in the quarter-finals for the first time in 12 years. Retaining those two objectives was down to a gritty, hard-nosed performance from the pack and the metronomic left foot of Ian Humphreys.
The Ulster outhalf maintained his nerve and wonderful kicking rhythm to post his third and match winning penalty from 51 metres on 78 minutes. Distance was never going to be an issue – even though the wind had decreased a notch or two on the Beaufort scale at this point – because he had landed a previous effort from a mammoth 56 metres. However, character and composure were cherished attributes in that pivotal vignette.
Humphreys may have been Biarritz’s executioner but it was the labourers that built the scaffold, the Ulster pack that deserve the plaudits. To a man they embraced the challenge and traded toe-to-toe in a hugely physical forward battle. Stephen Ferris and Dan Tuohy were immense, twin wrecking balls defensively and hugely aggressive in clattering past Biarritz tacklers.
Tom Court and Rory Best also embraced their workload with gusto but in truth, everyone in the Ulster eight contributed handsomely. It was though far from blemish free; the lineout wobbled, the scrum occasionally creaked, the pick and go lacked dynamism and the fringe defence was sometimes a little soft; albeit that the second half Alamo-like, goal-line defence had a happy ending in this case.
Ruan Pienaar had a tidy match in difficult circumstances while Nevin Spence’s abrasive running gave his forwards a target. Ulster elected to play into the gale – the rain arrived mid-half – and began with an intensity and ferocity that surprised the visitors. The home side retained patience when progress could be measured in a metre or two.
They retained possession, varied the point of attack and judiciously used Pienaar’s accurate box kicks.
In doing so Biarritz didn’t get into the Ulster 22 for the entire half, a huge coup for the home side. The French team still led at the break – they survived losing secondrow Erik Lund to the sin bin – through a brace of well struck penalties from Dimitri Yachvili but it didn’t seem a remotely sufficient buffer.
Ulster might have had two tries and probably should have had one during that period but Biarritz’s English wing Iain Balshaw twice denied Ulster fullback Adam D’Arcy in separate instances. The French had conceded eight first-half penalties but were nowhere near as profligate after the interval and running the ball with the wind behind is a far more technically difficult skill. Ulster didn’t risk it.
Humphreys kicked two penalties – one had fallen short in the first half – and although Biarritz captain Imanol Harinordoquy hadn’t reappeared for the second half, it was the French side that produced the more effective rugby in the final 20 minutes.
They probably kept their patterns a little narrow and that helped Ulster defend. At one point Biarritz went through 17 phases – Owens was pretty liberal in letting them seal ball – but the home side held out until visiting flanker Magnus Lund knocked on in the shadow of the Ulster posts. Harinordoquy’s replacement Samiu Vahafolau was adjudged not to have released the ball at a ruck after the tackle one metre inside the Ulster half on 78 minutes and up stepped Humphreys to apply the coup de grace.
SCORING SEQUENCE
18 mins: Yachvili penalty, 0-3; 38: Yachvili penalty, 0-6. Half-time: 0-6. 48: Humphreys penalty, 3-6; 58: Humphreys penalty, 6-6; 78: Humphreys penalty, 9-6.
ULSTER: A D'Arcy; A Trimble, N Spence, P Wallace, S Danielli; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best (capt), BJ Botha; J Muller, D Tuohy; S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg.
Replacements: D Fitzpatrick for Botha 70 mins; C Henry for Faloon 72 mins; N Brady for Best 74 mins.
BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: D Haylett-Petty; T Ngwenya, M Bosch, L Tranier, I Balshaw; D Traille, D Yachvili; E Coetzee, B August, S Marconnet; J Thion (capt), E Lund; M Lund, I Harinordoquy, R Lakafia.
Replacements: M Bond for Bosch 8 mins; S Vahafolau for Harinordoquy half-time; I Bolakoro for Balshaw 56 mins; Y Watremez for Coetzee 67 mins.
Referee: N Owens (Wales).
Yellow card: Erik Lund (Biarritz) 14 mins.
