Angst amongst Ulster Rugby Supporters is at it’s highest level this season following their fourth defeat in the PRO12, this time against Leinster at the RDS last night!

The meter soared from Moderate to High as the two teams prodded and poked each other in the middle of a half empty stadium while the meagre support desperately hoped that a game of rugby would break out.

It really was a dire offering from two under fire sides who have struggled for form all season. It tells you something when my own personal Man of the Match was referee John Lacey who had a faultless game. Mind you the fact that very little happened and neither side seemed capable of pushing the boundaries certainly made it an easy evening for the officials.

Leinster’s Johnny Sexton knocked over a penalty after 5 minutes to give the home side a 3 – 0 lead.

Paddy Jackson responded in kind 8 minutes later to tie the game at 3 – 3.

Two minutes before half time Sean Cronin bundled over from a line out maul for an unconverted try to take the score to 8 – 3 as the tams changed ends.

That’s pretty much it.

The most disappointing aspect was that the fear of defeat meant more to the players than the desire to win. Leinster had two chances and Ulster had one but the rest of the time the defences dominated completely. Well, maybe a bit of an exaggeration there as it seemed that the defences only had to wave their hands in the general area of the attackers or brush against them for the ball to be spilled.

I don’t agree with the general clamour that there was a lack of effort but there was a lack of confidence in both camps and once that goes it’s a difficult commodity to recover. In last nights match timing was off, sharpness was lacking and risk taking was non existent with the teams resorting to the comfort of playing by numbers, neither offering much to surprise the other.

However, such is the fickle nature of sport that four wins on the bounce would turn the season around and if Ulster win the next eight it’ll be a resounding success so don’t throw the towel in just yet, you’ve got to Christmas before you need to do that!  😆

Ulster: Peter Nelson, Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Andrew Trimble, Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar, Kyle McCall, Rory Best, Wiehahn Herbst, Iain Henderson, Dan Tuohy, Robbie Diack, Sean Reidy, Nick Williams. Replacements. Rob Herring, Andrew Warwick, Ricky Lutton, Roger Wilson, Chris Henry, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Louis Ludik