Ulster agony as ‘sinner’ D’Arcy lets Saints off

ULSTER have grown used to the pain of defeat in the Heineken Cup over the last 12 years, but this quarter-final loss will be excruciating.

At half time, Brian McLaughlin’s game plan was working to perfection in Milton Keynes as Northampton Saints’ much-vaunted attack was blunted, with Ruan Pienaar and Ian Humphreys pulling the strings.

Yet then the hosts awoke from their slumber as Ulster lost the physical battle, failing to score after the restart.

But even so, this was still a case of what might have been. Saints were ahead by just seven points when Paddy Wallace threw what seemed to be a certain scoring pass to Adam D’Arcy, with the full-back looking at an unopposed run to the line. But to his horror, the 25-year-old knocked on when it would have been easier to score. With that moment went Ulster’s chances of repeating their heroics of 1999, when they won the competition.

This was still a day to mark the progress Ulster have made over the last year, however. Ultimately Northampton’s greater know-how, with forwards such as Courtney Lawes, Dylan Hartley and Brian Mujati to the fore, proved decisive. For Ulster, reaching the quarter-finals means a corner has been turned; after 12 long years, they remember how it feels to taste knock-out Heineken Cup rugby. The challenge is to move on from here.

For vast swathes of the opening period it appeared they already had the know-how, and that they, and not the only remaining English side left in the competition, would be hosting Perpignan in three weeks’ time. Other teams would have folded when Saone Tonga’uiha scored after less than three minutes, but Ulster responded superbly and were rewarded when Andrew Trimble danced over after a fine team move. They took a three-point lead into the interval, but from there it fell apart.

“Northampton were deserving winners,” admitted McLaughlin. “After half time they upped their intensity. Our set piece wasn’t on the money and they made us pay heavily. But you can’t fault the effort the lads put in..”

And it was those set piece problems, and the fact that Ulster lost the arm wrestle up front, that proved crucial.

Captain Rory Best admitted: “We’re very disappointed, especially as a forward pack, with the way we let that first 15 minutes of the second half get away from us. But it makes us crave it more and want knockout competitions more, whether that be in the Heineken Cup or Magners League.”

But when the Magners League play-offs come around, Ulster have to cut out the individual errors. Trimble was the first, knocking on unforgivably after just two minutes. Three phases later the hosts struck, Tonga’uiha looking as inconspicuous as a 20-stone prop possibly can, before he picked up and drove past Tom Court and twisted to plant the ball over the line.

It was a woeful start, but preceded a fine response. Humphreys slotted two penalties and suddenly Saints were playing as England did in Dublin three weeks ago, crashing into tackles against a committed defence without any subtlety or recognition of the fact that they were capable of going around rather than through their opponents.

Pienaar was dictating play, and the try Ulster craved duly arrived. Nevin Spence and Simon Danielli worked an opening before the ball was worked to Best, whose inside pass gave Trimble the chance to beat a wrong-footed Ben Foden and score next to the posts, giving Humphreys an easy conversion.

Yet that was to be as good as it got for the visitors.

Stephen Myler brought the scores level and Saints took a lead they would never relinquish when their backs sparked into life, Foden and Chris Ashton producing some superb interplay to gain 50m of territory. With the Ulster defence in tatters, the ball was recycled and Lee Dickson strolled over the line.

Then came D’Arcy’s horrific moment, with the result never in doubt after then. Northampton were gracious in victory — “Ulster didn’t crack. They were in it for 80 minutes but we took our chance well and our set piece pulled us through,” admitted captain Hartley – but they could afford to be. This was a wonderful opportunity missed by Ulster. They have to pray it won’t be 12 more years until they get another chance.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: B Foden, C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, P Diggin, S Myler, L Dickson, S Tonga’uiha (A Waller 75), D Hartley (B Sharman 79), B Mujati (Mercy 79), C Lawes, C Day, P Dowson (C Clark 75), T Wood, R Wilson.

ULSTER: A D’Arcy, A Trimble, N Spence, P Wallace, S Danielli (C Gilroy 74), I Humphreys, R Pienaar, T Court, R Best, B Botha (P McAllister 71), J Muller, D Tuohy (T Barker 57), R Diack (W Faloon 63), C Henry, P Wannenburg.

Referee: Romain Poite (France).

Attendance: 21,309.