Grounds for frustration for Ulster and Ronan O'Gara

DULIN DELIGHT: La Rochelle full back Brice Dulin gets the grounding in the corner for the visitor's first try. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho

Ulster 29 La Rochelle 36 

Park all the controversy and the bitterness and the declared rights and wrongs over the switch of venue from Belfast to Dublin for a moment and the overwhelming sense is one of regret that a special occasion failed to materialise in Kingspan Stadium on Saturday.

European champions don’t come calling all that often. Only two had pitched up in Ulster in the previous 27 years of this competition’s history, Toulon claiming a 10-point victory back in 2014 and Toulouse snatching a crucial seven-point win in the round of 16 second leg just last season.

This was La Rochelle coming to town, the side that had accounted for Leinster in that Marseille final, a club helmed by an Irish legend in Ronan O’Gara. And Ulster were facing them on the back of a 27-0 scrubbing away to Sale on the tournament’s opening weekend. This could have been one of the great nights.

Ulster insisted the pitch was ready to play by Saturday morning, hours before the 5.30pm kick-off, but the decision had already been made to go with Dublin after an inspection made on Friday afternoon.

There are layers to this thing beyond those used to try and protect the surface and Ulster will have to ask themselves if they were quick enough off the mark when the mercury dropped and why they didn’t play at the RDS, their designated backup venue.

It must make for an enormous financial hit for the province and one made all the worse not just by the large and vocal La Rochelle ‘delegation’ that was allowed entry into the ground but by the loss of a game that almost proved another embarrassment in itself.

What should not be forgotten in all this is just how impressive the Top 14 side were in a first-half which they ended in possession of a 29-0 lead, even if Ulster’s stunning turnaround after the break took the shine of the visitors’ efforts.

O’Gara’s side was immense in that first 40. They rebuffed countless Ulster attacks on their own 10-metre line with all the fuss of a bouncer turning away a pimply teenager and they were ruthless and clinical in putting together that imposing half-time buffer.

Four penalties in a row established a commanding platform against an Ulster side springing leaks and misdemeanours in the face of an attack that mixed power and accuracy with a clever kicking game.

Full-back Brice Dulin and out-half Antoine Hastoy tacked on converted tries – and hooker Pierre Bourgarit another after 53 minutes – but the failure to claim a four-try bonus point and the need to withstand a second-half onslaught will rankle.

Hastoy was superb. The former Pau ten has spoken about his hunger to win trophies and push his way back into the French squad and his composure and control showed exactly why O’Gara tempted him away from the Pyrenees during the summer.

“We have a lot of new guys after coming in,” said assistant coach Donnacha Ryan. “For instance, Antoine Hastoy came in there and he scored 26 points there and his first try. We’re delighted for him. That’s what we want.

“Other players feed off that because this is his first experience as well and that drives the collective, that fresh energy from guys. We have really good players and it’s just about keeping that good culture and that positivity in the group.” 

They return to domestic action, against Bordeaux-Begles, next week with two wins from two in the Champions Cup and, regardless of that second-half slowdown in Dublin, perfectly positioned to go about retaining their title in May of next year.

For Ulster, the final whistle brought mixed emotions. Second-half tries from Iain Henderson, John Cooney, Duane Vermeulen and Tom Stewart meant that Cooney’s injury-time penalty was enough to secure a second bonus point and they will hope that this marks the end of a recent, spectacular wobble.

Add their first-half against Leinster three weeks ago to their second-half on Saturday and they outscored two of the best sides on the continent by 51 points to ten. Round up the four halves in between those and they conceded 103 while claiming just seven.

“If you look at our first-half against Leinster and our second-half here then we have the ability to do it against the big teams,” said Henderson. “The frustration for us is in trying to find the way of putting this on the pitch for the entire 80 minutes.

“It’s a bit of a head-scratcher but something we have to try and do.” 

ULSTER: M Lowry; E McIlroy, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Lyttle; B Burns, J Cooney; R Sutherland, T Stewart, M Moore; A O’Connor, S Carter; I Henderson, N Timoney, D Vermeulen.

Replacements: N Doak for Burns (22); R Herring for Stewart and K Treadwell for Carter (both 51); E O’Sullivan for Sutherland and G Milasinovich for Moore (both 61); D McCann for Timoney (67); S Moore for Marshall (73).

LA ROCHELLE: B Dulin; D Leyds, UJ Seuteni, J Danty, Pierre Boudehent; A Hastoy, T Kerr Barlow; R Wardi, P Bourgarit, U Atonio; R Sazy, W Skelton; R Bourdeau, Y Tanga, G Alldritt.

Replacements: T Berjon for Kerr Barlow (HT); Paul Boudehent for Tanga (48); T Paiva for Wardi and J Sclavi for Atonio (both 51); Q Lespiaucq Brettes for Bourgarit, U Dillane for Skelton and R Rhule for Pierre Boudehent (all 60).

Referee: L Pearce (England).