RUGBY: JOHN O'SULLIVANtalks to Ulster's modest match-winner Ian Humphreys and coach Brian McLaughlin after Saturday's dramatic victory
WHEN STRESS levels reach a zenith on game day, players seek the mental solace of the daily training-ground regimen as a buffer in trying to fool body and mind. Ian Humphreys retreated to a thought process that focused on routine rather than the implications of his 51-metre penalty attempt, two minutes from time, that would allow Ulster to squeeze past Biarritz Olympique at Ravenhill.
He won the mental battle, his rhythmic left-foot strike every bit as self-possessed as the two previous penalties he kicked. His exploits won him man of the match, but he preferred to re-train the spotlight: “The forwards were unbelievable. Stephen Ferris leads the team so well like that. Everybody was carrying as well. No one was shirking anything. Everybody put their hands up and carried for us and, defensively, the scrum was brilliant.
“I think anybody could have got man of the match. Everybody played so well, and that’s what you need when you play teams like Biarritz – you need everybody to step up. The crowd were great as well. They were really behind us and gave us that extra wee nudge that you need.”
His assessment is a little over-generous especially in terms of the quality of the performance, albeit in very difficult conditions. Ulster played superbly in the first half but never quite got to grips with the demands of an arguably more challenging remit in which they had to marshal the backing of a strong wind.
They eked out three chances and Humphreys’ accuracy did the rest. His take on that final penalty was interesting: “I think the last time I had an opportunity like that was the fourth of fifth year at school, and I missed it.
“I didn’t really have any doubts – I’d knocked one over from my own 10-metre line in the warm-up, so I knew all I needed to do was get it on line and the wind would hopefully do the rest.
“I had a bit of a panic when the wind changed direction as I stepped back but fortunately it held straight up.
“To be honest, I probably didn’t realise how much time was gone. I thought there was a bit more time left but, I was just chatting to Ruan (Pienaar) about this: that’s what we are out there for. You just bring it back to the training pitch, as if we were having a wee competition against each other.”
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin was circumspect when alighting on how the game was won. “Ian Humphreys and his smashing kicking off the ground. Also an unbelievable will and trust that the guys had to hold-on, dig it out and win the game.
“In the first-half we were relatively happy. Maybe at 3-0 would probably have been happier; at 0-0 even more so, but we did what we said we would do in the first half. We kept the ball, but were a bit disappointed we created a couple of opportunities but didn’t take them.
“That said, we were happy at half-time, and then we came out for the second half and the wind seemed to drop a little bit and the rain disappeared and it just wasn’t as easy as we thought, but we stuck at it. Our defence for about 10 or 15 minutes halfway through the second half on our own line was absolutely unbelievable.
“We have talked long and hard about the trust we have in each other, in the system and in our defence and here was no better example. We forced the error and then we got away.
“We talked as well about the opposition, reacting to their purple patch and the fact we would get one as well. We did that, we took their purple patch, matched it, got the turnover and went down and got the penalty we needed in the end. Fantastic.”
For Humphreys and Ulster there is a desire to look ahead to next Saturday in northern Italy. “We’re requiring Bath to do a bit of a job for us. Aironi have already beaten Biarritz and we only won over there in the league due to an intercept try, so it’s going to be tough.
“But we’ll go there full of confidence. That’s six wins in eight games so we know whenever we’ve got our full-strength team out we’re a pretty handy side.”
