Solomons hopeful despite defeat

Ulster coach Alan Solomons refused to throw in the towel in the Heineken Cup despite his side’s cruel 13-10 defeat against Stade Francais in Paris.

Diego Dominguez put the boot into the Irish side’s hopes of reaching the last eight as he kicked two second-half penalties to steer the French champions to a vital Pool One victory.

Ulster were demolished by Leicester last weekend and their performance in pursuit of a first-ever win on French soil was much improved.

“We definitely deserved at least a draw out of that game. I think that would have been a much fairer result,” said Solomons.

“It was a 360 degree turnaround in our performance from the defeat of Leicester last weekend. I was very happy with the level of our performance and commitment.

“The six changes that I made to the side definitely paid off. That brought a freshness to our team.”

Solomons’ side drew first blood with a try after only 12 minutes.

Outside half David Humphreys raced 60 metres to score after home centre Brian Liebenberg had had his attempted kick through charged down.

Not only did Humphreys bag the try but he also added a simple conversion to give his side real hope at the start of a tense clash.

But no sooner had Stade – who needed to win to keep their Cup hopes alive - gone behind than they hit back with a try from a driving line-out.

Ulster conceded a penalty in their 22, but Dominguez shunned the possible three points and instead kicked to the right corner for the line-out.

The Stade pack secured possession and then drove their French international prop Sylvain Marconnet over the line for a try, which Dominguez converted.

Two minutes later Humphreys restored the visitors’ lead with a penalty and the Ulstermen had the whip hand when English referee Chris White sent Stade lock Arnaud Marchois to the sinbin for illegal use of the boot midway through the first half.

But Ulster failed to add to their score while they had an extra man and six minutes before the break they were down to 14 men themselves when Andy Ward was issued a yellow card for persistent offside.

Ulster should have held on to their narrow half-time advantage but two errors in the second half gave Dominguez the chance to rescue his side’s European campaign.

And the former Italy international is not one to pass up scoring opportunities.

“If we had won here then we would definitely have been in with a chance of winning the pool. But you never give up hope,” added Solomons.

“Leicester have to beat Stade Francais at home on Friday night to win the pool, while we have a home game against the Gwent Dragons.”