Ulster Come Through Bath Battle To Book Quarter-Final Berth

It was mission accomplished for Ulster at Kingspan Stadium where a gritty 22-15 victory over Bath ensured safe passage through to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup.

The win guarantees Ulster a quarter-final berth as one of the best three pool runners-up, but with matches still to be played this weekend, the identity of their next European opponents is yet to be determined, with trips to France or England both possibilities.

The visitors, already ruled out of contention after five straight defeats, seemed to have saved their best performance for the final round of the pool stages, pushing Dan McFarland’s side all the way and never falling any further than nine points behind.

However, tries from Marcell Coetzee, Robert Baloucoune and Will Addison – all three of whom gave standout performances – proved vital in the end, with John Cooney contributing two conversions and man-of-the-match Billy Burns a clinching 73rd-minute penalty.

Tom O’Toole, whose recent performances saw him called up to the Ireland Six Nations squad this week, was the only new addition to the starting XV from last week’s fixture in Clermont, slotting in at tighthead prop in place of the injured Martin Moore.

Addison and Baloucoune made a lively start at the sold-out Belfast venue, combining neatly on the right wing with a cheeky blind pass from the Enniskillen-born youngster almost getting his full-back over before he was brought to ground.

The resulting lineout went Ulster’s way, however, and South African powerhouse Coetzee took full advantage of a strong driving maul, fishing out of the back and skirting around the side for a well-taken fifth-minute try.

Cooney dispatched his first conversion of the afternoon, but a misfire at a defensive lineout moments later gave Bath the opportunity to strike straight back, Freddie Burns opting for the three points when the penalty finally came – but spraying his kick wide of the posts.

The English club’s next attack proved more fruitful, Ruaridh McConnochie capitalising on Jacob Stockdale’s misjudging of a bounce by the right corner flag to snaffle the ball and poach a converted try, squaring things up at seven points apiece.

The incidents kept coming thick and fast with Bath flanker Tom Ellis yellow carded in the 22nd minute for an off-the-ball push on Cooney as Coetzee broke free in the 22 with the scrum half his option to the right, before O’Toole was forced off with an injury and replaced by Ross Kane.

Try as they might, Ulster struggled to make their numerical advantage count despite some nice touches from Stockdale, Addison and Baloucoune, and Ellis returned to the pitch – and indeed the first half played out – with no further score.

Much better play from the province straight from the whistle saw Baloucoune cross the whitewash within two minutes, thanks to a sublime run and offload from Addison, who darted his way through four Bath defenders before picking out his team-mate a split second before the tackle came in.

Cooney converted from the tightest of angles, and although Burns clawed three points back with a 46th-minute penalty, there was no stopping the Ulster tidal wave in the very next attack, Addison running in try number three thanks to some razor-sharp back-line passing and an assist from Stuart McCloskey.

It was the final contribution from Addison, noticeably limping already just before his try, and with Craig Gilroy on in his place, Ulster had some defending to do before they could start to think about a possible bonus point.

Making the victory safe soon became the only concern when the power of the Bath driving maul got replacement hooker Ross Batty over in the 65th minute. With some key men missing, Ulster had to redouble their efforts as they came under further pressure from a well-drilled Bath in the lineout and scrum.

Replacement lock Kieran Treadwell appeared to have scored just three minutes later after some scrappy play in the Bath 22, but the try was ruled out for a forward pass after lengthy TMO reviews.

Batty soon went from hero to villain, seeing red in the 72nd minute for a no-arms high tackle on Cooney, which put a premature end to the scrum half’s afternoon and brought David Shanahan on in his place.

Billy Burns, who was one of eight Ulster players to make the Ireland squad, stepped up to dispatch the resulting penalty through the posts in Cooney’s absence. Now seven points ahead, the hosts took no risks in the final minutes, kicking to touch as soon as they could after the 80-minute mark.

McFarland commented afterwards: “Two years in a row we’ve won five pool games and booked ourselves a quarter-final. Last week I was a little bit disappointed we didn’t get a home quarter-final. For a club at the stage we’re at to be able to say that we’re a top eight team in Europe two years in a row – I’d be pretty happy.

“If we play as well as we can we’re in a better position definitely, but if we don’t we’re not far away from losing comfortably. I think our attack shape and our ability to prise open defences is better now. I think our defence is definitely better now. Our kicking and our aerial game had progressed in the last two months albeit last week, and the week before, it wasn’t great.

“Today John Cooney’s kicking, I thought, was exceptional. So I think yes, at the top of our game I think we are. I don’t think we can win a quarter-final away from home – statistically it would tell us we can’t, or are less likely to, unless we are at our absolute best.”

Praising the back-three, the Ulster head coach added: “They looked good, didn’t they? Jacob, I thought looked good tonight. Bar his charge-down, some of his kicking was exceptional, it’s really long and he has a massive boot on him. Very Rob Kearney-esque and he runs hard and obviously created a couple of opportunities for us just because he’s such a threat.

“The Cat (Baloucoune) is a danger whenever he gets the ball because he’s just so rapid. He’s got next-level speed, and when you add all the tools that he has around that and bear in mind that he’s 22-years-old and he’s pretty new to the game.

“His skills around his defensive understanding, his physicality in defence, and obviously his attacking awareness, he’s a good prospect. Will carried a little bit of a calf through last week and it was more precautionary (to take him off) than anything. I think he was tightening up a little bit but it’s nothing too bad.”