Magners League: Ulster 32 Cardiff 13

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Ulster returned to Ravenhill last night after a nail-biting 16-18 victory against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets last weekend. And it was a night to remember for the Ulstermen as they put in a strong performance and secured an impressive 31 – 13 win to bag themselves another bonus point win.

Ulster – and the Ravenhill faithful – thought they had the perfect beginning to the game after Nevin Spence touched down in the second minute after a break from Adam D’Arcy sent the young centre over the line. However the try was disallowed after referee James Jones called the team back for crossing.

Nine minutes into the game and Cardiff were penalised for being offside, allowing Ian Humphreys the chance to opt for the posts and claim his first points of the night. However, his kick was pushed just wide of the right upright, leaving the scores at nil each.

The fly half made amends just one minute later though when he showed excellent handling skills by regathering his own chipped kick before sprinting down the field to Cardiff’s try line. Craig Gilroy was on Humphreys’ right shoulder and took the ball to touch down under . . .

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4 responses to “Magners League: Ulster 32 Cardiff 13”

  1. the mote

    I think someone is mixing “enjoyable” with “great” The Ulster performance against Stade in the semi in 1999 was a GREAT performace it was not the most enjoyable game to watch and the tension in other games in 1999 when the teams backs were up against the wall led to some great performances.

    The game on Friday lacked that type of edge necessary to qualify for great.

    Spence is a crash and roll centre he currently lacks the ability to draw his opposite number and pass similiarly he has a tendancy to try and run round his opposite number and thus reducies the space for his wings. A good outside centre makes his wings look good.

    In my opinion he Spence will be a very good replacement for PW in two years.

  2. Boys on tour

    Having watched experienced non-enthusiasts play with gusto in a green shirt today – I’d rather have inexperienced enthusiasts playing with gusto any day!! It was a great game of rugby – fair play to both teams for that! There was an intensity about Ulster for the full 80 minutes – that I haven’t seen all season, and there was an atmosphere at Ravenhill that I haven’t seen for a long time.
    I must stay at home and watch the game on TV the next time. Obviously being there just clouded the judgement of all the 8,300 people who went away thinking it was a great Ulster performance!

  3. the mote

    Watched the game this morning on iPlayer and given the write ups on the UAFC board thought I was going to see a game where the backline functioned as a slick passing unit with the ball going across the pitch for the wings to score type game if you get the drift and to some extent was slightly disappointed in that was a disjointed display.

    The backline was a display of inexperienced enthusiasts playing with gusto, against a nearly equally inexperience backline ,and displaying potential

    Whether the backs would perform as well against a more experienced backline is the question which the game does not answer.

    As to whether it was one of the best displays of the season by an Ulster side I doubt it and suspect the assessment derives from the fact that both sides wanted to play a running game in good conditions which made the game enjoyable to watch. ( plus the fact Ulster were leading and Cardiff never really appeared to have the where-with-all to win the game )

    Pienaar’s try could easily been disallowed by another referee for playing the ball on the ground but I won’t refuse luck when it comes along.

    While Spence has not let Ulster down in Caves absence I do believe the wings will have more opportunities to score when Cave returns – Spence has yet to develop the timing of his pass and frequently runs into contact ie plays outside centre in the manner of an inside centre- crash and roll rather than draw an opponent and pass in the manner of BoD.

    The referee had one of those games where the spectators esp a TV one can’t make up their minds as to whether his lack of intervention improved the game or hinder it from being better ( a lot of unpunished offsides and some mistakes eg Pienaars try and the sending off being two that come to mind

    1. @mote – Guess you had to be there, you never quite catch the intensity on iPlayer!!

      Reckon you’re as confused as Gusher was in his commentary over the identity of Spence.

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