McLaughlin: We’ll need to improve for away tie

IT was nail-biting stuff on Saturday as Ulster drew first blood in dispatching Bath at Ravenhill.

Coach Brian McLaughlin was full of praise for his side when they stormed back from early self-destruction to inch home after a thunderous Heineken Cup clash.

Seventeen points from the boot of Ian Humphreys and an intercept try by Pedrie Wannnenburg did the business when it mattered. Ulster showed great character in surmounting a massive hurdle after handing Bath two soft tries in the first half before nailing their colours to the mast.

But with Bath clawing back a bonus point and Biarritz’s shock defeat to Aironi in Italy, Pool 4 is still wide open.

McLaughlin said: “Obviously we are delighted to come away with a win after we had given them a 10-point start. Full credit to the boys, who knuckled down and just got on with it and fought and fought for every ball. Their heads did not drop and its full credit to them.

“It was a smashing game of rugby with both teams giving their all. There will be a lot of sore bodies.

“While we made errors, it was probably because we were attempting to play too much good rugby and trying to force the game. But we came back and were right back in contention at half-time and looking good.

“We stuttered a bit in the second half, but we did enough to get the points on the board. I was certainly pleased with the overall performance, and I believe there is more left in the tank.”

Ulster could not have got off to a worse start when they were 10 points in arrears with only seven minutes on the clock.

A penalty in front of the sticks after 90 seconds when Paddy Wallace instinctively handled the ball in an offside position was nudged over by Olly Barkley, a late replacement for new father Shontayne Hape.

Then came a Humphreys blunder a couple of minutes later, when his looping pass out wide was cherry-picked by Bath full-back Jack Cuthbert on his 22, and he raced to the line despite the attentions of Simon Danielli.

Ulster could have thrown the towel in there and then, but with the magnificent Stephen Ferris in stunning form and his pack ahead in the penalty count at scrum time, they fought their way back to go in at the break 15-13 behind.

Humphreys had rattled over a couple of penalties, but not before another error allowed Bath to dander in for their second try. A high kick by their skipper Michael Claassens had full-back Adam D’Arcy in trouble and as the ball bounced, Lewis Moody snaffled possession and patted away a tackle by Nigel Brady to touch down.

A superb spell up to half-time gave Ulster confidence and pressure at a ruck on the halfway line and saw Wannenburg pilfer a pass from Simon Taylor to romp in.

Humphreys knocked over the conversion followed by a superb penalty from the 50 metres, giving Ulster the boost they so sorely needed.

Ulster dominated the second half in large swathes and Humphreys banged over three more penalties, with Barkley adding another to his tally.

Bath almost snatched victory at the death with Matt Banahan storming in from close-range, but a magnificent shuddering tackle by Andrew Trimble produced a turnover. Game over, as McLaughlin looked ahead to the return clash.

“Obviously it is only one game. The match at Ravenhill is now put to bed and we have to start all over again in Bath next Saturday, and it will not be easy by any means,” he said.

Scorers for Ulster: Try: Wannenburg; Pens: Humphreys 5; Cons: Humphreys. Scorers for Bath: Try: Cuthbert, Moody; Pens: Berkley 2; Cons: Berkley.

ULSTER: A D’Arcy; A Trimble, N Spence, P Wallace, S Danielli; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, N Brady, B Botha, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry (Faloon, 57), P Wannenburg.

BATH: J Cuthbert; M Carraro, M Banahan, O Berkley, T Biggs (Abendanon, 16); S Vesty, M Claassens (c) (McMillan, 75); D Flatman (Barnes, 70), L Mears (Dixon, 64), D Wilson (Bell, 60) S Hooper, D Grewcock (Fernandez-Lobbe, 60) A Beattie (Skirving, 60) L Moody, S Taylor.

Referee: Jerome Garces (France).