Ulster left out in the cold by Saracens

It was not their proudest moment in Europe as Ulster’s Champions Cup season looks terminal after a humiliating bonus-try defeat at the hands of Premiership kingpins Saracens in front of a quiet crowd at the Kingspan Stadium.

It’s been a long time since Ulster had four tries labelled on their deficit column at home. But to be honest they were well beaten by a side that did the basics well, took their chances and in effect had more up their sleeve than their Pool 1 opponents.

Ulster led 9-5 at the break, but never, ever looked like breaching the Sarries well-honed defence. Ulster, on the other hand looked vunerable at regular intervals and it was no surprise to give up the four tries through Chris Wyles, the exellent Andy Goode, Duncan Wright and Billy Vunipola. All Ulster could offer was two penalties and drop -goal from Paddy Jackson. Les Kiss’s side just lacked the nous and wherewithall. The passion was nowhere to be seen on the field, and thus the crowd, for a change, were not the 16th man.

It was cold in east Belfast with a definite hint of snow in the air just before kick-off. But after a short period of kick and chase from both antagonists , the game warmed up with three and a half minutes on the clock with Saracens flanker Michael Rhodes thumping Andrew Trimble on his way down from taking yet another high ball. It brought memories of 18 months ago when Jared Payne was red-carded for less. Rhodes, however, was admonished with just a yellow. Pienaar missed the long-range penalty and five minutes later Farrell was also short.

It was Jackson in the 15th minute who finally broke the deadlock with a simple penalty to give Ulster a deserved lead. Jackson doubled that lead with a snap drop goal as Ulster again pressed in the Saracens red zone.

Despite enjoying territorial advantage, Ulster, like most teams this season, were unable to break through the unwavering Saracens defence. It was left Jackson to add another three-pointer when Jacques Burger was penalised for tackling Nick Williams with use of his arms.

However, the Ravenhill roar was silenced on the half hour with Saracens, on their first visit to the Ulster ‘22’, swooped to score in the left-hand corner from a training ground back move which wing Chris Wyles finishing. Farrell missed a chance to claw back another three points but his wide-angled kick strayed across the face of the posts to bring an end to what was a flat first period.

Unforced errors on the restart immediately put Ulster on the defensive as the visitors kept pegging away looking for more free hand-outs. But a silly straight-arm tackle by Billy Vunipola on Jackson sent him to the bin to give Ulster the numerical advantage again. But again Ulster appeared to run out of options against a Scrooge-like defence.

Then the inevitable happened. Saracens struck with simplicity again with full-back Goode starting and finishing a move with a delicate kick over the Ulster defence with Wyles giving a superb return inside pass to the full-back to score at ease. Farrell converted and Ulster were now chasing a 12-9 deficit. It got even worse for the men in white with Farrell dummying his way through a creaky and tiring defence to give centre Wright a try on a plate. Farrell missed the conversion but landed a straight-forward penalty to virtually wrap up the game.

It’s very rare you see the home fans streaming out in such numbers before the end of the game. They would have been glad to miss that crowning ignominy as Vunipola crashed over from line-out for that fourth try.

Ulster scorers:

Pens: Jackson 2. Drop Goals: Jackson.

ULSTER:

Ludik, Trimble, Cave, McCloskey, Gilroy, Jackson, Pienaar, Black, M. Best, Herbst, Tuohy, van der Merwe, Henderson, Henry, Williams.

Replacements:

Nelson for Ludik (73), Humphreys for Jackson (70), P. Marshall for Pienaar (75), McCall for Black (58), Lutton for Herbst (70), Diack for van der Merwe (66), Wilson for Henry (49), Herring for Williams (66).

Saracens scorers:

Tries: Wyles, Goode, D. Taylor, B. Vunipola. Cons: Farrell 2. Pens: Farrell.

SARACENS:

Goode, Ashton, D. Taylor, Barritt, Wyles, Farrell, Wigglesworth, M. Vunipola, Brits, du Plessis, Kruis, Itoje, Rhodes, Burger, B. Vunipola.

Replacements:

Bosch for D. Taylor (70), Hodgson for Barritt (73), de Kock for Wigglesworth (76), Gill for M. Vunipola (75), George for Brits (51), Figallo for du Plessis (54), Hargreaves for Itoje (76), Wray for Rhodes (58).

Referee:

Romain Poite (France).