Ulster 10 Stade Francais 26, 11th October 2008.

John McMurtry

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October 13, 2008

ER Champions Cup, Provincial Rugby Men, Ulster Rugby Men

Paddy Wallace, Ulster Rugby. Ulster v Stade Francais
Paddy Wallace, try scorer against Stade Francais.
Photo www.rugbypicture.co.uk

If they had got stuck in a bit earlier maybe things would have been different.

OK Ulster were playing into a strong wind and the first half performance against the Ospreys was probably weighing heavily on their minds but if Ulster were to have any chance against the form team in Europe they really should have went out to rattle a nervous Stade Francais in the first twenty minutes.

Instead Ulster opted for containment rather than attack and the pin-point kicks of Beauxis and Hernandes picked them off. The irony is that when Ulster did open it up they matched their French counterparts point for point and with the French pack noticeably tiring . . .

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One response to “Ulster 10 Stade Francais 26, 11th October 2008.”

bogboybBOGBOYoy

October 14, 2008

the difference between the two teams was Hernandez his presence on the pitch was the factor which limited the options in the lster attack .Any possession given away within the Stade half resulted with Ulster being pinned back deep within there own half .

Stade had three drop goal attempts within the first 20 minutes two of which were sucessful playing with an out half with that ability meant that Stade had no need to play a high risk game and allowed them to concentrate on their defence .

While the ref was not prefect Ulster have played against worse refereess this year and his failure to use the video may have cost Ulster a bonus point he was not the cause of our defeat

My Ulsterman of the match has to NoC not because he was the most outstanding Ulsterman on the pitch but because I think he came of age during the match he was playing opposite one of the worlds best it would have easy to have been overawed but he wasn’t and when he appreciates that fact it will provide him with confidence to be a better player

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