Ravenhill witnessed a classic European performance on Friday as Ulster realised their full potential and edged ever closer to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a memorable four-try victory.
Two close range tries from Andrew Trimble, complemented by one apiece by Craig Gilroy and Paul Marshall, tore Leicester Tigers apart in a match where Ulster barely put a foot wrong all eighty minutes long.
Stephen Ferris, Rory Best and Chris Henry were simply immense, making a number of strong carries and helping the province dominate the collisions.
Head coach Brian McLaughlin praised the forwards in particular, admitting afterwards: “We have a pack of forwards that is starting to be the envy of any team in Europe. The scrummaging and work around the pitch tonight was superb.”
Next Saturday’s final Pool 4 clash with Clermont Auvergne – should it end in victory – will see Ulster into the last-eight, and with a home tie in the quarter-finals.
The good news for Ulster before kick-off was that two key players, Pedrie Wannenburg and former Leicester out-half Ian Humphreys, were both passed fit to start.
Elsewhere, Paddy Wallace made his first start in several months at centre after a lengthy lay-off with a hand injury, relegating Ian Whitten to the replacements bench.
Ulster made a confident start, with quick feet from Darren Cave and Stefan Terblanche in the opening moments gaining some good territory.
When the try came though, from man-of-the-match Trimble in the fifth minute, it was more the product of hard graft close to the posts from the forwards, and a rather fortunate looped pass which found the Ballymena man as close to the right touchline as he could legally go.
Trimble did excellently to evade several tackles and stretch over the line, and his feat was matched by Ruan Pienaar’s sublime conversion from the acutest of angles.
Pienaar shone again five minutes later, slotting home a penalty from mere metres inside the Leicester half.
However the high rate of scoring continued, with Ireland international and Tigers captain Geordan Murphy sneaking over the Ulster whitewash on the quarter hour mark, and Billy Twelvetrees adding the extras.
Refusing to let themselves be phased by the setback, Ulster simply came again, and perhaps should have done better with a quickly-taken penalty from Pienaar five metres from the visitors’ line, but on this occasion the chain of cross-field passes broke down and the chance went a-begging.
Into the second quarter when Leicester began to show more of their unquestionable class, Ulster intelligently altered their approach, slowing play down when they could rather than sticking with the hell-for-leather strategy employed hitherto.
Their patience paid off with the award of a 32nd minute penalty – this time from even closer to the halfway line – which Pienaar hit with just enough venom to drop it over the crossbar, stretching the lead to six points.
A botched lineout three minutes later looked to have prevented the hosts from gaining any further advantage before half-time, but they redeemed themselves in the very next move.
The backs closed down the Leicester recipient of a smart Humphreys punt forward and forced a scrum 10 metres out from the visitors’ whitewash.
Pienaar broke to the right off the scrum and his quicksilver pass supplied Trimble in roughly the same position from where he had scored the first try. Here the outcome was the same as he exposed some poor defending from Alesana Tuilagi, and Pienaar was narrowly wide with his conversion attempt.
With his side 18-7 behind, Twelvetrees should have opened the second half with three points but despite the place-kicker’s central position, the ball smacked off the left hand upright and back into play for Ulster to clear.
With the onus on the Tigers to chase the game, Ulster were happy to bide their time and wait for a mistake or an infringement from the visitors.
The latter came after 53 minutes and Pienaar, this time from the ten-metre line, kept up his remarkable kicking form with penalty number three.
His fourth successful strike came barely three minutes later, the ball once again dipping just over the crossbar, and moving McLaughlin’s men into a 24-7 lead.
With a legitimate-looking Ulster try then disallowed on the hour mark for apparent crossing, and tempers starting to fray with two post-ruck punch-ups in quick succession, Ulster regained their composure and a 22-metre Pienaar penalty put the result beyond doubt.
With Leicester reduced to 14 men after prop Dan Cole saw yellow for dissent, Ulster turned on the style and the evening continued to prove prolific for the Ulster wingers.
Gilroy touched down on his flank after speedy work from Terblanche and an impressively agile sidestep and pass from Wannenburg. Pienaar converted once again.
With Leicester run ragged again, nippy replacement Marshall latched onto a quickly-taken penalty and darted over for a deserved bonus point score. Again, Pienaar converted effortlessly to push Ulster past the 40-point mark.
This headline-grabbing success now sees Ulster a full seven points clear at the top of Pool 4 before the group’s other match this weekend – Saturday’s meeting of Aironi and Clermont Auvergne.
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