So the much anticipated "last" season of the Heineken Cup started yesterday, and like the last season of Lost, you can almost feel that all questions will not be answered in this edition. As usual, we faced one of the toughest groups, with Montpellier, Ulster and our feline troops candidates to top the group and a very dangerous visit to Italy that could potentially eliminate one of the three. Pundits said we needed a losing bonus points, but we are Tigers aren't we? We will go for the win, or stay home...
As usual, talking about a game this time of the year without talking about injuries is just not happening. You can almost picture Californian Scully asking the guys this first couple of weeks: "So how you guys play so good and so fresh come the end of the season?" the answer being: "Oh, easy. We injure ourselves for a couple of months at the start" So then, wanting to be one of ours quickly, Scully gets injured. And he joins Croft, Mafi, Tuilagi, Allen, Matt Smith, Matt Tait, Gonza Camacho, Hawkins and many others in the sidelines.
Still, I felt our starting XV was very strong, with Bowden and Goneva as center partnership, a strong pack and Toben again in the command. There were voices asking for David Mele at 9 during the week after his impressive performance against Northampton, but Ben retained the scrumhalf shirt. You can almost sense that this new competition will push Youngs harder than ever before, much to our advantage. Also I was excited to see what Miles Benjamin could add to the back three, with solid performers Morris and Thompstone looking good on this first run of the season.
Ravenhill on a Friday is not the easiest place to travel, as we all perfectly remember (no need to remind you of the score the last time we played there) and the game proved to be a very tough tactical test. Tigers started pretty confident, with strong tackling and line rushing that forced a couple of Ulster early mistakes. We were able to capitalize on them and only six minutes in, a half-break from Toby flood put us in a comfortable position with Ulster defence panicking in their own 22. The ball traveled fast to Bowden and he simply launched one of his delicious long passes to Mulipola, that was casually hanging out on the wing, waiting for a ball to exploit his Croft-like speed. He jogged into the try-line and with the conversion, things were on the up. It was nice to start a game ahead in the scoreboard for a change.
Oh but Ulster were clever, very clever. They quickly realized that our blitz defence rushed forward very fast, and that our wingers where constantly cutting inwards to make out of the line tackles and they started to apply pressure with the boot. And they immediately realized it was the way to play that day. Not only the gained territory, but also possession, often claiming their own booted ball, and forcing a string of mistakes that would soon start to rattle us. 15 minutes in and they were camped in our 22, with a penalty advantage to play. Paddy Jackson made the most of the "free play" and executed a perfect cross kick for charging Tommy Bowe, that simply went over Nial Morris AFL style. Paddy, very solid with the boot added the extras. And although Ulster were waking up, the rest of the first half was good on our side, with a strong scrum and some good passages of play. Tigers wen 13-10 down to the locker room, and as I'm sure many of us thought at the time "better than expected".
But the second period plot only developed on what the first half hinted: That Ulster had superior tactics. They continued to boot the ball all over the place, mainly through perfectly calculated up-and-under kicks, that will put them in a very good attacking position or at least, forcing us to kick the ball out. So deprived of possession and pinned in our territory we did our best to hold on, mainly thanks to a very good defence, holding Ulster out on very complex and difficult to defend attacks, with offloads going left and right. Tom Youngs was immense in the tackle, and Toby Flood made a couple of very important rushes to cut superiority on the outside of the pitch.
Come the 58th minute and we were pretty much in it, but then Jordan Crane was sin binned, and three consecutive penalties by Paddy put us in a very difficult position, 22-13 and out of the Losing Bonus Point range. We still had some sporadic attacks, but isolation of the runner was a constant mistake yesterday, and the majority of our visits to their 22 ended with a holding-on penalty. Very frustrating. With ten minutes to go, Mele, Briggs, Williams and Hepetema went into the field trying to invigorate a team that seemed very uncomfortable and out of pace, and they almost did that, with a final rush of attacks that ended up getting us the much wanted Losing Bonus Point. With the clock already on red we had a penalty to perhaps play for the game, but the guys decided to kick it out, and the final score was 22-16.
After the game, there was only one question in my mind: Do we have to bare with Sky Sports terrible, awful and irritating commentary all season long? That alone should be a good reason for the HC to disappear next year. BT Sport, and to an extend, ESPN the last couple of years, where a breath of fresh air in terms of Rugby broadcasting. They make your game experience better, and not worse. They point out the little intricacies of the game that you miss out, or that are tactically difficult to analyze while watching the game live, instead of constantly stating the obvious time and time again. That is my opinion of course, but what do you think? You can leave your comments below...
Still, I felt our starting XV was very strong, with Bowden and Goneva as center partnership, a strong pack and Toben again in the command. There were voices asking for David Mele at 9 during the week after his impressive performance against Northampton, but Ben retained the scrumhalf shirt. You can almost sense that this new competition will push Youngs harder than ever before, much to our advantage. Also I was excited to see what Miles Benjamin could add to the back three, with solid performers Morris and Thompstone looking good on this first run of the season.
Ravenhill on a Friday is not the easiest place to travel, as we all perfectly remember (no need to remind you of the score the last time we played there) and the game proved to be a very tough tactical test. Tigers started pretty confident, with strong tackling and line rushing that forced a couple of Ulster early mistakes. We were able to capitalize on them and only six minutes in, a half-break from Toby flood put us in a comfortable position with Ulster defence panicking in their own 22. The ball traveled fast to Bowden and he simply launched one of his delicious long passes to Mulipola, that was casually hanging out on the wing, waiting for a ball to exploit his Croft-like speed. He jogged into the try-line and with the conversion, things were on the up. It was nice to start a game ahead in the scoreboard for a change.
Oh but Ulster were clever, very clever. They quickly realized that our blitz defence rushed forward very fast, and that our wingers where constantly cutting inwards to make out of the line tackles and they started to apply pressure with the boot. And they immediately realized it was the way to play that day. Not only the gained territory, but also possession, often claiming their own booted ball, and forcing a string of mistakes that would soon start to rattle us. 15 minutes in and they were camped in our 22, with a penalty advantage to play. Paddy Jackson made the most of the "free play" and executed a perfect cross kick for charging Tommy Bowe, that simply went over Nial Morris AFL style. Paddy, very solid with the boot added the extras. And although Ulster were waking up, the rest of the first half was good on our side, with a strong scrum and some good passages of play. Tigers wen 13-10 down to the locker room, and as I'm sure many of us thought at the time "better than expected".
But the second period plot only developed on what the first half hinted: That Ulster had superior tactics. They continued to boot the ball all over the place, mainly through perfectly calculated up-and-under kicks, that will put them in a very good attacking position or at least, forcing us to kick the ball out. So deprived of possession and pinned in our territory we did our best to hold on, mainly thanks to a very good defence, holding Ulster out on very complex and difficult to defend attacks, with offloads going left and right. Tom Youngs was immense in the tackle, and Toby Flood made a couple of very important rushes to cut superiority on the outside of the pitch.
Come the 58th minute and we were pretty much in it, but then Jordan Crane was sin binned, and three consecutive penalties by Paddy put us in a very difficult position, 22-13 and out of the Losing Bonus Point range. We still had some sporadic attacks, but isolation of the runner was a constant mistake yesterday, and the majority of our visits to their 22 ended with a holding-on penalty. Very frustrating. With ten minutes to go, Mele, Briggs, Williams and Hepetema went into the field trying to invigorate a team that seemed very uncomfortable and out of pace, and they almost did that, with a final rush of attacks that ended up getting us the much wanted Losing Bonus Point. With the clock already on red we had a penalty to perhaps play for the game, but the guys decided to kick it out, and the final score was 22-16.
After the game, there was only one question in my mind: Do we have to bare with Sky Sports terrible, awful and irritating commentary all season long? That alone should be a good reason for the HC to disappear next year. BT Sport, and to an extend, ESPN the last couple of years, where a breath of fresh air in terms of Rugby broadcasting. They make your game experience better, and not worse. They point out the little intricacies of the game that you miss out, or that are tactically difficult to analyze while watching the game live, instead of constantly stating the obvious time and time again. That is my opinion of course, but what do you think? You can leave your comments below...