Paddy Jackson’s 77th-minute penalty capped an incredible Ulster comeback at Stade Charles Mathon this afternoon as the province overcame a 23-point deficit to keep their European dreams very much alive.
A frankly dismal first half performance was overturned in the second period with an unrecognisable Ulster pulverising the Oyonnax defence with tries from Rory Scholes, Craig Gilroy and the outstanding Kyle McCall, and nine points from Paddy Jackson’s unfaltering boot.
Credit must also go to the Ulster management for the judicious introduction of big guns Jackson, Ruan Pienaar and Nick Williams at the interval, a tactical switch which effectively swung the balance of power back in favour of the visitors.
Gilroy’s return from injury was one of six changes to the side that started against Munster, with Williams, Pienaar, Jackson and Louis Ludik – whose full-back berth Gilroy slotted into – all deployed on the bench in line with the player management programme.
Scholes kept his place on the left wing while Luke Marshall and Stuart McCloskey continued their pairing in the centre, but the remainder of the back-line had a different look, with Sam Arnold making his European bow on the right wing, and the experienced partnership of Ian Humphreys and Paul Marshall at half-back.
In the pack, McCall and Rory Best were joined by Ricky Lutton, who came in for the injured Wiehahn Herbst, while Lewis Stevenson and Franco van der Merwe lined up at lock, and Roger Wilson replaced Williams at number 8, flanked by Robbie Diack and Chris Henry.
If the visitors had imagined Oyonnax – bottom of the pool and with the second leakiest defence in the Champions Cup after Benetton Treviso – might be a walkover, the first half was to prove a rude awakening, with the French outfit registering 23 unanswered points.
The hosts controlled the opening phases and were good value for the try on seven minutes when George Robson climbed highest at a lineout and set in motion the rolling maul for hooker Jeremie Maurouard to crash over. Former Wales international Nicky Robinson converted from wide out.
A pacy break from the try scorer five minutes later, as he eluded tackles from Lutton and Diack, had Ulster scrambling to bring down full-back Quentin Etienne just metres from the line, and when Wilson illegally dived on the ball as Oyonnax recycled, Robinson gratefully extended the lead to 10 points.
Ulster began to edge into the Oyonnax half after a reshuffle which saw Arnold, who had made an impressive start, pick up a knock and make way for Ludik. But two scrum infringements in quick succession gave Robinson his third and fourth successful kicks on 28 and 33 minutes, serving as the wake-up call Ulster needed as they eventually penetrated the home 22 moments later.
The five-metre lineout with two minutes of the half remaining promised much until Paul Marshall’s pass fell just behind his namesake Luke and just ahead of Ludik, dropping into the lap of winger Uwa Tawalo who, with the entirety of the Ulster team in the opposing 22, had the Stade Charles Mathon open like the Red Sea before him, and ran the length of the pitch to score. Robinson’s conversion brought a nightmare first half for Ulster to a welcome end.
Trailing 23-0, Ulster’s dismal performance in the opening 40 minutes forced Les Kiss to play his hand earlier than he would have hoped, bringing on Pienaar, Jackson and Williams for Marshall, Humphreys and Stevenson at the break.
The impact was virtually instantaneous. From a 43rd minute lineout, Pienaar and McCloskey combined to find Scholes, whose speedy weaving run cut a diagonal swathe through the 22 and carried the young winger to the line for a fine individual try.
Jackson dispatched the conversion, and when Henry and Pienaar wrapped up former team-mate Pedrie Wannenburg off the back of a deep Oyonnax scrum, the reversal on five metres almost got Ulster in again until McCloskey ran into a red brick wall and conceded the penalty.
Ulster came again on 55 minutes, and despite losing their first lineout five metres out, bossed the second from 22 and waited patiently for the opening which, frustratingly, did not come before Pienaar committed a marginal knock-on when fishing the ball out of the ruck.
The next breakthrough was not long in coming, however, as Pienaar’s quickly-taken tap penalty caught Oyonnax off their guard on 62 minutes, and McCloskey’s neat wraparound pass fed Jackson, then Ludik and finally Gilroy on the right wing for a strong finish by the corner flag.
Jackson expertly added the extras once again, and as Ulster sped into overdrive, yet another barnstorming run from McCloskey off the back of a scrum got Marshall and Best inches from the line before McCall scooped up the ball to help himself to the try, converted once more.
Just two points behind with 10 minutes to go, Ulster probed again and again but with van der Merwe penalised for collapsing a maul five minutes later, Oyonnax killed valuable time in the Ulster half until – on 77 minutes – Jackson kept his nerve to slot home a terrific 53-metre kick.
There was still time for drama, however, as a last-minute scrum in Ulster territory was first reversed, then turned over again by the Ulster pack, snatching Oyonnax’s first ever European victory from under their noses, and keeping Ulster alive in the pool with 13 points from four games played.
Next up is a round 5 trip to leaders Saracens next Saturday before the decider against today’s opponents at Kingspan Stadium a week later – with at least a highest-placed runners-up slot still a very real prospect for the Ulstermen.
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