More woe on the road for Ulster ended with a 35-17 defeat to Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park this afternoon, leaving Jono Gibbes’ side anchored in fourth spot in Conference B of the GUINNESS PRO14.
The Ulstermen, outplayed by a Cardiff side directed majestically by man-of-the-match Jerrod Evans, remain 13 points adrift of third-placed Edinburgh – their next opponents in 12 days’ time – and while they have a game in hand over the Scottish outfit, a place in the PRO14 knockout stages now looks highly unlikely.
Indeed, an upturn in results will be required to keep the ever-improving Benetton at bay and retain the chance of qualification for next season’s Champions Cup, with the Italians currently just a single point behind in fifth.
Giving his reaction afterwards, Ulster head coach Jono Gibbes said: “It felt a lot worse than the scoreboard suggested. That’s a really deflating performance. There’s not a lot we can hang our hats on there or be proud of. The scoreboard isn’t a fair reflection of how utterly we weren’t in that game.
“I’m not even sure how well Cardiff played, to be honest. It’s pretty deflating. There’s nothing that we want to be associated with. We don’t want to tolerate that or accept that. We worked hard during the week and that’s a let down. That’s a let down for a lot of people.
“There’s guys not in the 23 that helped us prepare and they’ll be sat at home watching that and they’ll be rightfully…disgusted might be too strong, but certainly feeling let down.
“There’s things that we’ve got to look at. Was the selection right? Did we coach well enough? The players will bring their final bit to the piece too. It’s all something we’ve to look at. I think it’s safe to assume all three weren’t good enough.
“There’s nothing really that we want to associate ourselves with from that performance. There’s nothing in that performance that we aspire to be. There was nothing positive. It’s just not good enough. We have to look at ourselves and come up with an idea about what can transfer onto the pitch (against Edinburgh) in Murrayfield in two weeks’ time.”
Cardiff raced into a 7-0 lead inside two minutes, out-half Evans finishing off a flowing move down the right wing from flanker Ellis Jenkins’ sharp pass, and converting his own score.
Former Ulster favourite Nick Williams soon gifted John Cooney three points after an illegal turnover, but the Blues continued to dominate in open play and were good value for their second try on 12 minutes when Matthew Morgan’s basketball-style pass to Blaine Scully outfoxed the Ulster rearguard and the American winger sped over from 10 metres out.
Ulster, who included Grand Slam winners Jacob Stockdale and Iain Henderson on the wing and in the back row respectively, began to move well in midfield. However, they were let down by careless passing on more than one occasion, both Charles Piutau and Kieran Treadwell culpable as two promising attacks evaporated into thin air.
Worse followed in the 28th minute when prop Wiehahn Herbst found himself banished to the sin-bin for a high arm on Evans as he attempted to clear out the ruck. Ulster did well to hold off the Blues during the ensuing 10 minutes, weathering the storm when Tomos Williams’ touchdown was ruled out for a forward pass.
There was still time just before half-time for half-backs Cooney and Evans to trade penalties, sending Ulster off at the break 17-6 down. They came out for the second period with the bit firmly between their teeth, gaining good ground through three successive penalties, the third of which Cooney elected to aim for the posts, reducing the gap to eight points.
Now enjoying much better possession and territory on the artificial pitch, the visitors battered the Cardiff 22 for a good five minutes, eventually forcing another penalty in front of the posts which Cooney dispatched without fuss in the 52nd minute.
A single try from parity now, Ulster toiled to resist the inevitable Blues backlash, but were undone once again by Evans, whose quick hands picked out replacement hooker Kristian Dacey to romp over from five metres just before the hour mark.
An off-target Cooney penalty moments later left Ulster chasing 10 points in the final quarter – soon bumped up to 13 after an Evans penalty – but the Blues, with the prospect of a bonus point now in their minds, slowed the game down and hemmed play deep in the Ulster half until a 70th minute penalty allowed Evans to put the result beyond doubt at 28-12.
Fine carrying from Nick Timoney almost got replacement lock Matthew Dalton over for his first senior try three minutes later, only for the youngster to lose control of the ball before he could properly ground it. The visitors’ persistence finally paid off when replacement scrum half David Shanahan nipped in at the corner from Craig Gilroy’s pass with barely a minute to go.
But there was enough on the clock for the Blues to pound down the other end, replacement prop Dillon Lewis bundling over after a good four minutes of stout Ulster defence. The bonus point victory strengthens Cardiff’s position in Conference A, still in fourth but now a mere five points behind the Toyota Cheetahs, their opponents in the next round. Ulster, meanwhile, face a difficult run-in with their remaining matches against Edinburgh, the Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Munster.
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