Would the young centre have given Ulster the cutting edge they lacked on Friday night, asks LIAM TOLAND

NO DAY goes by where I’m not amazed with the wonderment of miracles bestowed upon me. Consequently not a morning goes by where I don’t thank the stars above for all the good fortune that has been relentlessly heaped upon me. Who am I thanking? Truth be told I’m not entirely sure but what I do know is there’s no point in being lucky if you don’t know you’re lucky. I and so many of our rugby community this morning are certainly that; lucky. I know it and I’m eternally thankful for it.

What our brothers and sisters in Ulster must be feeling this morning doesn’t bear thinking and I struggle to stay on rugby with such tragedy in our midst. I watched Ulster defeat Munster at Ravenhill last Friday night and experienced the well-deserved jubilation of the players, staff and supporters. I too have tasted defeat in Ravenhill and it’s a tough place to expect a win.

Both sides are in a transition of sorts and neither really deserved to lose but that said, a better team would have beaten Munster much more convincingly than by the narrowest of margins, one point. It was a cracker of a match and Ulster did brilliantly to win, especially after being down by seven at half-time, but this is early days for them and there is much work to be completed.

Munster’s strengths have long been bountiful but their backrows over the past 30 years could match any team in the world; look what Shannon alone have produced, such as a six, seven and eight of Colm Tucker, Eddie Halvey and Anthony Foley. I can’t wait to watch every Munster game unfold as the new-look Munster backrow claw at the severe challenge their forefathers have laid before them.

Last Friday night, Munster’s 10, 12 and 13 proved they all can tackle, with the very impressive covering of Ian Keatley an added bonus. Although still rusty, they are also growing into an attacking unit. If I were playing in that Munster backrow packing down on the flank a question I’d be asking myself and my colleagues is how can we reap the rewards of this 10/12/13 combination and their continued brilliant offloads?

Although Munster’s new policy of running out of their 22 generates errors, check the shirt numbers on the clear-out that covers them up, where 12, 13, 15, etc, are all piling in to limit the damage, which is a great work ethic!

Beyond this strong work ethic there is skill, which is the crucial ingredient Keith Earls brought on his arrival. With a very early season touch on 37 minutes, Earls, in midfield, with a blanket Ulster defence in front of him, simply ran at Luke Marshall, checking him, and then swung open towards Darren Cave, who came in, freeing up Earls’ support runner, secondrow Billy Holland, into a hole.

This was a poor effort from Cave, resulting in a great score for Earls as the ball swung back to the right-hand side from an inside take off Denis Hurley. His wonderful pass to Casey Laulala set them off but his earlier inside-out play fixing Cave was very Brian O’Driscoll.

Regarding Ulster, I liked their lineout and especially the technique of their beanpole, Lewis Stevenson, at the front. Watch him next time out to see him get into the air.

Time is at a premium at two and the old school number four would bounce up from the hunched position in that he would dip first to generate a spring and then as the lifters hit him he would seamlessly propel up to full height as the timing of a very fast entry from the hooker would hit him.

Time has moved on and time being very precious, he doesn’t have the luxury of dipping before jumping. Last Friday night Stevenson took up the traditional stance but skipped the dip and simply backed himself to spring directly upwards, placing much greater emphasis on his explosion and the immediate hit from his lifters. This method requires huge power from the jumper to get up to the same height but the time saved can be hugely advantageous, whereby the hooker will have a clean white jersey to hit; less traffic!

With 18 lineouts, Ulster managed much variation, including a one-man lift on Stephen Ferris at the tail. Johann Muller continues to be the go-to athlete in the middle, with beautiful balance and hands to get the Ulster backline moving from the perfection of their timing.

The Ulster backline is where issues arose. Clearly huge positives abound, particularly in Andrew Trimble’s defence and physicality, Patrick Jackson’s growing experience and Jared Payne’s beautiful balance and busting runs akin to Earls, on top of which he has the habit of placing major indecision in defenders’ minds through his gliding runs. His first-half line break, bursting outside backs and outside James Coughlan and inside Keatley, nearly gave Paul Marshall a five-pointer but for the offload from Trimble.

As pretty as Ulster’s play looked, outside of Payne, it almost never fixed a Munster defender. For all the obvious ambition in their play they struggled to unlock the Munster defence out wide. In scoring on 51 minutes they didn’t achieve an overlap where their brilliantly created and deserved Payne touchdown came from bursting outside James Downey, with Earls marking his man on the touchline. There was continued pressure from Ulster but how inventive was it with a lot of double and triple switches going nowhere as they turned the ball over far too easily after building possession, especially in the final third? – very costly.

Is this a concern? Not so much at this stage with three victories from three in the Pro 12 but time and again Munster, under major possession stakes pressure, coped easily out wide where they generally had more defenders than Ulster attackers. In the 10 minutes where Munster’s Seán Dougall was sitting down taking a rest, Ulster failed to touch down; in fact it was Munster who got three points. With possession at 50 per cent each but up a man it was intriguing.

Exciting times ahead for Ulster no doubt but one wonders would Nevin Spence have added the abrasive go-forward edge so many encounters will require this season.

Indeed I am so lucky and I hope and pray as the season unfolds our friends in Ravenhill get their slice of luck they so richly deserve, “Stand up and fight”; Ní maith liom bhur dtrioblóid.