Following a shock 26-19 victory for Connacht over Ulster, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship encounter at the Affidea Stadium on Friday.
The top line
Connacht provided a big blow to Ulster’s title ambitions and, at the same time, boosted their own play-off hopes by stunning their provincial rivals.
A Six Nations hangover was very much in evidence for the majority of this match, but a thrilling contest did finally break out in the latter stages with Bundee Aki to the fore.
It was an absolutely dire contest in the opening half, though, which saw the teams go in level at 7-7. The first score came via Connacht’s Sean Jansen, who powered over from close range, while the response from Ulster was quick. Bryn Ward – on briefly in the opening period following Marcus Rea’s HIA – used his short stint on the pitch wisely to set up Nathan Doak to level matters at the interval. But there was not much to write home about in between those efforts.
That combination between Ward and Doak was the only real quality of the first half, but it changed after the break as quick-fire tries from Finlay Bealham and Finn Treacy put the visitors in control. Although Bryn’s brother, Zac, hit back for the hosts, it was the Galway outfit who went away with a superb victory as Treacy completed his brace. It meant that Angus Bell’s try was only enough for a losing bonus point for the Ulstermen.
After the Lord Mayor’s show
Following the thrills of the Six Nations in Dublin came the spills of the URC in Belfast. It was always a big ask to repeat the excitement of Ireland’s victory over Scotland, but we probably expected a bit better.
It was physical and passionate, but the errors slowed the game down, halted any momentum generated and ultimately turned the match into a damp squib for over 50 minutes. In truth, the handling was poor, and you wonder whether the lack of time together over the past two months impacted the quality of the first half.
The conditions weren’t an excuse as on that rare occasion it was pretty much perfect, but perhaps the rainless Belfast lured the players into a false sense of security. For example, only Ben Carson will know how he dropped the ball with the line begging after a sweeping set-piece move.
Carson was not the only one, but that case of the dropsies was symptomatic of the encounter where neither team managed to show their true quality for the opening 50 minutes.
Setting a platform
It duly felt like the first URC game of the season, not the 13th, as the respective teams took time to get back into the swing of things. Those kinks should not really need ironing out as we enter the run-in, but given the disruption caused by the Six Nations, it is to some degree understandable.
For 40 minutes, the lineout was an absolute disaster for both sides, albeit it was Ulster who were the most severely impacted by squandering promising position after promising position. It was not a surprise that a game finally broke out when that was rectified, and it was Connacht’s ability to keep the ball in phase play that enabled them to wrestle control of the encounter.
That then seemed to inspire Ulster, who eradicated the errors in order to send Zac Ward over for a beautifully worked try. With everyone finally realising they were actually quite good at rugby, an outstanding game broke out, and for the final 15 minutes it was helter-skelter stuff.
Size matters
It seems all top international teams nowadays need a ball-carrying 12. Only England initially played without one at the start of the Six Nations, with the playmaking Fraser Dingwall preferred, but that was rectified when he was outplayed by Sione Tuipulotu and Stuart McCloskey.
Having big centres is a speciality in Ireland, as proved by Six Nations Player of the Tournament nominee McCloskey. He might not have been playing here, and neither was his outstanding understudy Jude Postlethwaite, but all four midfielders that were had a presence on the gain line.
Even Jacob Stockdale, who was playing out of position at 13, is a powerful unit and that perhaps contributed to the attritional contest. But the class of the field was undoubtedly Bundee Aki. There has been criticism of Aki in recent times, not least for his outburst at officialdom which earned him a four-week suspension.
That anger could have come about due to his poor form for both club and country, but it was possibly the reset he needed as on Friday the powerhouse was magnificent. Aki proved to be a focal point for the visitors, getting over the gain line, linking play in midfield and winning turnovers at the breakdown. Connacht need him to be at his best and he was in Belfast.
The ramifications
Ulster have enjoyed an outstanding season and actually moved up to second for the time being following their losing bonus point, but such is the tightly congested league table, they could be as low as fifth by the end of the weekend.
It is certainly not time to panic with a very winnable game against strugglers Zebre to come, but what follows that is further Irish derbies against Leinster and Munster. With both of those provincial giants in and among the title challengers, those two encounters could well define their campaign.
If the Belfast-based outfit repeat this performance, they have no chance, but they have shown enough this season to suggest they can go on a run of victories.
As for Connacht, their ambitions may not be quite as lofty just yet, but they are starting to find some form under Stuart Lancaster. Their fourth URC victory in a row has moved them up to eighth in the table and with a chance of the play-offs.
Their next game is at home, too, but unfortunately for the Galway side, three of their final four matches are away from the Dexcom Stadium. You would think they need at least a couple of victories for Lancaster to steer clear of any more fan criticism. If they can do that then the province will go into next season with more positivity, irrespective of where they finish this campaign.