Ulster promise underpinned by Italian win

FINALLY their wait is over. On Saturday, before a small crowd in a remote village in northern Italy, Ulster claimed a place in the Heineken Cup knockout stages for the first time in 12 years with a 43-6 win over Aironi.

It wasn’t as straightforward as the scoreline suggested but, as Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin smiled afterwards: “We got the job done.”

Ulster’s mission was clear: win in Viadana and a quarter-final berth was theirs, irrespective of results elsewhere. They ultimately progressed as runners-up in Pool 4, having been pipped to top spot by Biarritz on account of the Basques’ superior head-to-head record.

In seeing off Aironi, Ulster were forced to resort to brute forward power having been frustrated for long periods during an error-strew first half.

The Irish province had opened the scoring with a penalty from Ian Humphreys after two minutes but struggled to impose themselves thereafter. The lively Adam D’Arcy created a try for Andrew Trimble midway through the first half but the visitors led by just four points at the interval after Aironi had responded with a drop goal from fly-half James Marshall and a penalty from replacement scrum-half Tito Tebaldi.

This was Ulster’s chance to reach the last eight for the first time since winning the competition and they were threatening to blow it.

However, McLaughlin insisted afterwards: “I wasn’t worried. At half-time we were a bit frustrated. I think we tried to play a little too much rugby in the first half and turned over vital ball. We passed when we should have held onto it, tried off-loads that weren’t on and probably tried to force the game a bit too much.

“But we came good in the second half. After half-time, we got control and we improved our discipline, which was exactly what we had asked for.”

That was down to the Ulster pack. Within five minutes of the second half, Pedrie

Wannenburg, had touched down twice following near-identical rolling mauls.

Just over ten minutes later, Ulster had sealed the game - the bonus point and their place in the last eight courtesy of a penalty try after a formidable display of superiority in the set-piece. Further tries from Chris Henry and Simon Danielli followed as the visitors established themselves as a coming force on the European scene.

“All credit to the players and the coaches,” McLaughlin said, “as a group we’ve done remarkably well. But we can’t rest on our laurels. What we have to do now is show everyone just how good a rugby team we are.

“Our forwards were fantastic. You only have to look at the two smashing mauls and the penalty try from a scrum. But there’s a lot more to come from that pack. And if you look at our young back-line, Nevin Spence was outstanding, as were Adam D’Arcy and Andrew Trimble. There’s a lot of talent out there and we’re only going to get better.”

AIRONI: J. Laharrague; P. Canavosio, R. Penney, G. Pavan, M. Pratichetti; J. Marshall, M. Wilson; M. Aguero, F. Onagaro, F. Staibano; M. Bortolami, Q. Geldenhuys; V. Liebenberg, J. Sole, J. Erasmus.

Subs: T. Tebaldi for Wilson (15), A. Birchall for Liebenberg (47), G. Pizarro for Pavan (50), R. Boccino for Laharrague (52), S. Perugini for Aguero (60), C. del Fava for Geldenhuys (60), R. Santamaria for Onagaro (72), A. De Marchi for Staibano (72).

ULSTER: A. D'Arcy; A. Trimble, N. Spence, P. Wallace, S. Danielli; I. Humphreys, R. Pienaar; T. Court, N. Brady, D. Fitzpatrick; J. Muller, D. Tuohy; S. Ferris, P. Wannenberg, W. Faloon.

Subs: B. Young for Fitzpatrick (60), D McIlwaine for Trimble (66), P Marshall for Pienaar (68), A Kyriacou for Brady (70), T Barker for Tuohy (70), I Whitten for Wallace (72)

Referee: C. Berdos (France).