Dominguez strikes final nail in coffin of lacklustre Ulster

IT’S rolling towards five years since Ulster became the first and only Irish side to win the European Cup. They haven’t been back since, in fact they haven’t even managed to negotiate the pool stage of the competition since David Humphreys lifted the trophy at Lansdowne Road in 1999.

On Saturday, Ulster needed to win at Stade Jean Bouin to retain any realistic chance of progressing to the business end of the tournament and, while eventually beaten by a 67-minute penalty by out-half Diego Dominguez, they never really looked like disrupting an off-colour French side.

Ulster’s defence was outstanding all afternoon and, around the fringes, the likes of Roger Wilson, Neil McMillan and Andy Ward thrived, but, Humphreys’ fortuitous first half try aside, Ulster never really put the home defence under any pressure on the front foot.

Stade were hardly razor-sharp in comparison, but the excellent Brian Liebenberg and man-of-the-match full-back Ignacio Corleto were constant threats, and had referee Chris White awarded tries to Remi Martin and Patrick Tabacco, the game would have been well out of Ulster’s sight. That wasn’t exactly how Ulster coach Alan Solomons saw things however. The South-African, who has yet to sign a new deal with the province, believed his players deserved a draw from Saturday’s encounter, if only for their defensive efforts.

“My reaction is one of immense disappointment because I felt a draw would have been a fair reflection of the match.

. “I know they had a fair amount of possession and territory, but we produced an enormous display and our defence was superb. I am disappointed because we deserved a draw out of this game. We had our opportunities, but I will not blame individuals. We win as a team and lose as a team. That is the Ulster way and that is the way rugby should be.”

Stade Francais have a winner-takes-all clash against Leicester at Welford Road on Friday night, but, after this edgy victory and Leicester’s mid-season revival, the French side’s South African coach, Nick Mallett, is under no illusions.

“We will need to improve our performance by 100% at Leicester if we are to beat them,” said Mallett. “Ulster defended well, they are a well-organised side but we should have been out of sight, if the referee had awarded the try to Remi Martin at the end of the first half. I thought Tabacco scored a legitimate try at the end as well.”