RUGBY /  Ulster 27 Edinburgh 21: Irish rugby took a further step forward as Ulster came to Murrayfield on Saturday, saw the conditions and conquered the grim weather and Edinburgh to lift the Celtic Cup for the first time with a carefully thought-out brand of rugby that was too strong for the home side.

Ulster coach Alan Solomons was adamant the result would have a ripple effect within Irish rugby. "This is good for Ulster rugby and a boost for the Irish provinces as a whole," he declared.

Solomons admitted, however, that after watching Edinburgh come back into the game in the second half after Ulster had led 21-0 at the break, he had felt a tad uneasy.

"I was concerned when the game seemed to be going down to the wire. But the resilience of the side eventually showed through.

"It was a great team effort. We had a strategy going into the game. In a way the weather underscored our strategy," he explained.

Solomons praised the work of the tight forwards, singling out Robbie Kempson for special praise.

"Robbie is the best loosehead in world rugby," he insisted.

Equally effective for Ulster in the front row was hooker Matt Sexton, replaced for the last quarter by Paul Shields, while in the backs, the strong defence of centres Shane Stewart and Paul Steinmetz was a telling factor in a frustrating first half for Edinburgh.

But what an extraordinary match. Edinburgh looked hopelessly adrift in the first half with tactics that were ill-suited to the the ground conditions, and paid heavily with two tries, three penalty goals and a conversion registered against them.

"We tried to play too much rugby in the first half," confessed Edinburgh captain Todd Blackadder. We tried silly things like pop passes instead of being patient.

"They played smart rugby. This was probably our worst first half of the whole season."

Ulster looked several blocks ahead in the streetwise league, content to let Edinburgh overelaborate before swallowing up the Scots in a rigid defence to achieve a high number of turnovers.

In reality it was tougher for Ulster than Edinburgh made it look. But with Ulster's front five putting huge pressure on the Edinburgh pack, the relative patterns of play were determined.

Behind this solid platform outhalf David Humphreys had a fine all-round game, with lengthy kicking from hand, superb goal-kicking for a 17-point tally, and several timely tackles to prevent Edinburgh from breaching the Ulster try line in the first half.

It was two penalty goals from Humphreys that gave Ulster the perfect start and when the outhalf converted a try by Neil Best - initiated by Humphreys' soaring cross-kick that made the luckless Simon Webster little more than cannon fodder - the Ulster men were 15-0 clear.

A third penalty goal by Humphreys and then a catch-and-drive lineout try from lock Rowan Frost left Edinburgh trailing 21-0 at half-time and in a seemingly hopeless position.

Edinburgh, however, did not judge that to be the case and with substitutes Smith at prop and Hogg at openside flanker making an impact a change in fortune quickly ensued.

First Webster touched down from Derrick Lee's well judged chip ahead before Lee himself cut through for Edinburgh's second score, and with Chris Paterson converting both tries Edinburgh were back in the game.

Humphreys steadied Ulster nerves with his fourth penalty goal but just on full-time Edinburgh scrumhalf Mike Blair slipped his minders to score his side's third try, which was converted by Paterson to narrow the gap to just three points.

Ulster were not to be denied and from a final effort they were awarded a penalty, inevitably translated into three points by the unerring Humphreys, leaving Edinburgh ahead on the try count but Ulster as the Celtic Cup winners.

EDINBURGH: D Lee; S Webster, M Di Rollo, B Laney, C Joiner; C Paterson, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall (A Kelly 72), R Mathieson (C Smith 40), N Hines, S Murray, T Blackadder, S Cross (A Hogg 45), S Taylor.

ULSTER: P Wallace; J Topping (A Larkin 58), S Stewart, P Steinmetz, T Howe; D Humphreys, N Doak; R Kempson, M Sexton (P Shiels 58), S Best (R Moore 58), R Frost, M Mustchin, (M McCullough 66) A Ward, N Best (W Brosnihan 72), R Wilson.

Referee: N Williams (Wales)