The Stoop turned into a winter wonderland for Ulster as they dug deep in the snow to beat Harlequins 17-5 in the Champions Cup, with the result moving them into second place in Pool 1.
Scrum half and man-of-the-match John Cooney kicked 12 points with Ulster’s only try coming from the best move of the game, which was finished by in-form Ireland winger Jacob Stockdale. Tickets for the return clash between Harlequins and Ulster in Belfast are available at ulsterrugby.com/buytickets.
Ulster opened the scoring on five minutes with a Cooney penalty from in front of the posts after Harlequins prop Kyle Sinckler was whistled up for offside. Cooney missed the chance to double Ulster’s lead midway through the first half as he dragged a penalty wide after Joe Marler was caught on the wrong side of a driving maul.
Stockdale, the man of the moment, got the game’s opening try six minutes later as Ulster produced bit of magic on the snowy surface. Cooney pounced on a loose ball in midfield to launch a counter attack, he showed great pace to carry into the ‘Quins 22, the covering Mike Brown was able to halt the scrum half but the Ireland-capped half-back popped the ball to Sean Reidy who switched it wide to Stockdale and he went over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Now 8-0 behind, John Kingston’s ‘Quins squandered their first chance to put points on the board when teenage out-half Marcus Smith was off target with a 32nd minute penalty. Ulster could have increased their lead when they kicked a penalty to the corner but they surrendered possession due to a knock-on from the driving maul.
Les Kiss’ charges went into the interval with a deserved eight-point lead after the defence held firm in the final play of the first half. Smith launched a long penalty into the corner and, from the lineout, ‘Quins tried to set up a dominant maul but the Ulster were able to wheel it into touch.
Ulster director of rugby Kiss felt that was a crucial moment in giving his players the psychological edge. “Critical, that,” he noted afterwards. “It was a lift for us and probably took a bit of wind from Harlequins’ sails. There were moments when the pack did what they have to do.
“The backs played their part too but the foundation was laid by our forward pack who were just belligerent. We delivered on what we had promised to each other and it’s great that we did that.”
Iain Henderson, who captained the Ulstermen in the injury-enforced absence of Rory Best, stopped the home side getting a try with a great tackle on their number 8 Matt Luamanu – the Kiwi back rower took a quick tap penalty but Henderson was able to stop him short of the line.
Front rower Sinckler got ‘Quins back in the game with a 49th minute try, following a series of scrums on the Ulster five-metre line. Marler and Luamanu carried close to the line before the England and Lions prop barged over for an unconverted try.
Importantly, the ever-influential Cooney punished ‘Quins for collapsing a maul by landing a penalty to give Ulster a six-point lead heading into the final quarter. The surefooted Dubliner was on target again with another penalty on 68 minutes and added a fourth with two minutes remaining to wrap up the province’s second win of the campaign.
La Rochelle (15 points) are well out in front at the top of the pool, following their third successive bonus point victory – a 49-29 success at home to Wasps. But Ulster (8 points) are now in a runners-up spot and will look to complete the double over Harlequins at Kingspan Stadium next Friday (kick-off 7.45pm).
Giving his reaction to the result, Kiss said: “I’m pleased, obviously. The conditions certainly shoved the game in a certain direction and you have to adapt some of the plans that you’ve put together. The way John Cooney handled that game, he wasn’t perfect but he did some important things.
“I thought the pack were immense, their defence of the maul, their defence in general was brilliant and they certainly laid a platform for us to do some smarter things around the edges and get the job done. We recognised that it would have to be built on the tough moments, these conditions challenge you. Sometimes those things are technical, sometimes those things are tactical, but most of the time, their attitude.
“If you’ve got that, you can handle the imperfections. It wasn’t going to be perfect but we showed that today. Ultimately, that attitude that we took into it meant we could get beyond what we got wrong technically and tactically.”
He added: “We’ve got to go and do it again next week. We’re not kidding ourselves. If we want to be something in May, it’s what we do now. Sometimes that’s winning in the last minute, sometimes that’s overcoming an injury rate that challenges the depth and you have to stand up. Around the positives, there are still some real challenges but the attitude and the ethos of the boys was strong today.”
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