Owen Doyle: Wayne Barnes rides his luck as Ulster register a famous victory

In the heartland of the beautiful Auvergne you will come across a Michelin factory, in Clermont-Ferrand to be precise.

As a very major sponsor, they pump huge funds into the Clermont club, whose budget approaching €30 million is something that Ulster can only dream of; by comparison they are financial minnows.

And yet, the visitors were the ones who brought the passion and the intent to the Stade Marcel-Michelin; they played quite brilliantly in that once great fortress and went home with a famous victory.

Before Clermont realised they were in the midst of a very serious match, Ulster had raced away to a 16-0 lead, and had silenced the normal madness of the Yellow Army. If not for the five-star quality of Damian Penaud, the home team might well have been overwhelmed.

IRFU issues strong response after 62 current and former players write letter to Government

---

‘We fear Ireland will be left further behind’ - 62 players’ letter to Government, in full

---

Leinster postpone Monday training as they await Covid-19 test results

---

Unlikely lads become heroes as Coventry win shows strength of Munster academy

---

The commentators were effusive in their praise of referee Wayne Barnes and I can go along with some of that, but certainly not all of it. There are questions to be asked of the officiating.

The final score of 29-23 meant that Clermont escaped with something, by way of a losing bonus point, which may or may not be very important come qualification for the last 16 in this competition. This point came with a large whiff of good fortune about it – after Barnes had correctly pinged Ulster, there were allegations from Ross Kane that he had been eye-gouged.

On TMO review it wasn’t clear, with the flag on the corner post concealing the exact point of contact. But it did seem clear that deliberate contact had been made with Kane’s face and that is foul play. On another day, the penalty would have been reversed so why not today? The citing commissioner is bound to be taking a very hard look.

When will players learn that, when leading with the shoulder to the neck-head area, they are entering extremely high risk territory

Earlier on, Ulster coach Dan McFarland had seen his game plan turned on its head as Robert Baloucoune left the pitch for good; he had been tip tackled into the ground by Jacobus Von Tonder, whose action was sanctioned with a yellow card. There was another Clermont player legally involved in the tackle, which really had nothing to do with the foul play. It could well have been red, but what really sticks in the craw is that Von Tonder was free to return 10 minutes later, and we don’t know when Baloucoune will recover to play again.

Clermont started the second half with renewed intent, and the crowd, at last, found their voice. The pendulum looked as if it had swung decisively in their favour; Ulster, at 19-20 needed something special, and it came. Centre James Hume sliced through the middle, haring deep into the 22 before he was taken down as the attack continued.

Different story

The referee then ‘saw’ an Ulster knock-on, as Michael Lowry unloaded, but it turned out to be quite the opposite – a deliberate knock-on by defender Cheik Tiberghein. Barnes signalled advantage to the non-knock-on, as Nick Timoney picked up and slid over to score, just as the referee blew.

Nobody knows if the advantage signal caused the defence to relax momentarily, but they must play to the whistle in any case. Finding himself in a real jar of pickles, Barnes reviewed the TV footage and then he got very lucky – it appeared that the whistle had not been blown before Timoney crossed the line, try awarded. Good luck decreed the right outcome, but it might well have been a very different story altogether.

Fast, furious, frenetic, and absolutely fabulous. Munster in a nutshell as they swept away the challenge of the home team, Wasps. The pride and passion for the jersey, and the true grit, from the men in red were essential ingredients to this victory– but too often they have been missing in recent times.

True, Wasps lost captain Brad Shields to a red card, it might well have been yellow. But when will players learn that, when leading with the shoulder to the neck-head area, they are entering extremely high risk territory.

Keith Earls was fortunate to have a try allowed, as the ball bobbled and squirted around in the in-goal he touched it down. A defender had clearly been pushed to ground a moment before, but referee Romain Poite deemed that it had no effect on the try outcome; mmmm, hard to agree.

A famous day and hats off to all, especially to Ian Costello who took over the head coach role for this match, and, most of all, let’s hope that the essential ingredients don’t go awol again. Munster men coaching home-grown players has a definite ring to it.

Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster have put together an exciting team, very capable of winning the Heineken Cup

Stade Francais, with at least as much pocket money to spend as Clermont, went to Galway. There, in the City of the Tribes, they were decimated, no other word for it. Six tries to zero was an extraordinary result as Andy Friend’s men were both expansive in attack, and miserly in defence, a potent combination. It was exhilarating rugby. Not to take away one jot from this performance, but to watch a very wealthy French team who were just dismal was, well, just dismal.

Bordeaux-Begles and Leicester are excellent teams, with two really top-class coaches in Christophe Urios and Steve Borthwick. They put on a match worthy of their current positions of heading up their respective league tables; these two teams are challenged week in, and week out, and it showed.

Yellow cards

IRFU referee, Andrew Brace, was in charge here and he refereed it sensibly, without looking for ‘small’ stuff. His performance certainly helped the continuity of play. The two yellow cards were dealt with well and it was good to see the referee taking ownership of these decisions, with the TMO, Brian McNeice, working appropriately in the role of assistant, rather than leading the process.

A tricky enough moment saw a Leicester try ruled out for a knock-on before the touchdown, but the ball did come off a Bordeaux foot first, raising a question as to whether it was a charge down rather than a knock-on. While that’s not as outrageous as it sounds, the outcome of no try, after significant review, seemed the logical outcome.

Very little to report from the Aviva where Leinster had an easy outing. Worryingly, though, they failed to kick-on in the second half and allowed Bath to get into the match. There’s little point in seeing Leinster running in a hatful of tries week in, week out, and not being seriously tested.

Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster have put together an exciting team, very capable of winning the Heineken Cup. But, without playing matches which regularly put them to the pin of their collar, then they risk being undercooked when the big stuff comes around. It’s happened before.