Ulster’s Poor Form Continues Against Five-Try Chiefs

Ulster found themselves all but eliminated from the European Champions Cup at the end of a pulsating encounter at Sandy Park where two tries from Charles Piutau and one from Sean Reidy fell short of taming a rampant Exeter Chiefs side.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: EXETER CHIEFS 31 ULSTER 19

Ulster’s attack was at times irresistible, with Charles Piutau, deployed on the wing, a constant threat, but the Exeter backs – Jack Nowell and Michele Campagnaro in particular – were more than a match for their opposite numbers, and the ever reliable Thomas Waldrom chipped in with two close range tries to seal the victory.

Both sides go into round 6 next week with a very slim sliver of hope for qualification to the last-eight – Ulster must pick up five points at home to Bordeaux-Bègles and Chiefs will need to do the same away to Clermont, but both will need an unlikely series of other results to go their way in order to proceed.

Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss made three personnel changes from the team that had gone down against the Scarlets in Llanelli, bringing in Peter Browne at lock, Piutau on the wing and Dave Shanahan at scrum half for his first full cap.

Elsewhere, Louis Ludik reverted to full-back with captain Andrew Trimble on the left wing, while the tandem of Luke Marshall and Stuart McCloskey continued in the centre, with Paddy Jackson starting again at number 10.

Up front Ross Kane made his European bow at tighthead alongside Callum Black and Rory Best, with Kieran Treadwell partnering Browne in the second row, and Iain Henderson shifting to the back row to team up with Chris Henry and Reidy.

The home fixture at Kingspan Stadium back in October was a tight affair with Ulster running out victors by a single point, and an entertaining first half followed much the same pattern.

The visitors made the best possible start when McCloskey burst through the centre off a lineout and found number 8 Reidy one-handed for a third minute try.

Fifteen minutes of Exeter possession yielded little in the way of chances until, with a penalty coming, quick hands from Ulster exiles Gareth Steenson and Ian Whitten made the space for man-of-the-match Campagnaro whose impressive turn of pace left Best for dead and carried the Italian over to restore parity.

As the Chiefs pressed again from a close range ruck, TMO Arnaud Blondel was called upon to adjudicate on two close calls, firstly as Mitch Lees piled over with the Ulster defence fighting to hold him up – verdict no try – and again from the resulting five-metre scrum as number 8 Waldrom used all his bulk and guile to bludgeon his way to the line and then execute a swivel to get the ball to ground. This time the evidence of the touchdown was conclusive, and Steenson gratefully added the extras for 12-5.

Kane’s European debut ended prematurely on 33 minutes with an apparent recurrence of a recent knee injury, and as Jonny Simpson entered the fray, the Ulster equaliser came from almost nowhere. Piutau’s dancing feet created the space down the left wing as both Nowell and Waldrom ended up bamboozled on the turf. Jackson converted to send the teams off at the break with honours even – 12-all.

Exeter came out for the second period all guns blazing, camping on the Ulster five-metre line and only deprived of a try from a 45th-minute rolling maul by some resilient defence from the Ulster pack. Henderson did well to temporarily prevent Campagnaro’s second try of the evening by getting himself under the Azzurri centre as he attempted to bundle over moments later, but there was no stopping Waldrom on 50 minutes as he dived for the line off the back of a ruck.

Steenson’s conversion was quickly followed by the bonus point score – Campagnaro again the author, but Phil Dollman’s lightning quick pass and Nowell’s tricky footwork made the try just as aesthetically pleasing as Piutau’s first half effort had been. As good as the try was, Ulster were guilty of some weak attempted tackles in the build-up.

Despite the two quick concessions, Ulster refused to give up the ghost and once they eventually broke into the Exeter half just before the hour mark, smart play off a rolling maul and a measured kick to the corner from Jackson, with the penalty imminent, found Piutau to register the third brace of the game.

A mere five points adrift (24-19) with 18 minutes to play, Ulster came close straight away with Jackson and Piutau combining dangerously down the left and Shanahan only just beaten to the line by Jack Yeandle as the two chased Jackson’s dink towards the posts.

Steenson failed to give the hosts some extra breathing space as he fired a penalty wide with 10 minutes to go, but 90 seconds later the match was as good as over when referee Romain Poite penalised Jackson for a deliberate knock-on of Nowell’s pass inside the 22 as three Chiefs lined up on the right wing for the final ball.

Jackson saw yellow for the same infringement he committed in round 4 at Clermont, and the award of the penalty try sealed the result – and most likely the end of Ulster’s European challenge for 2016/17.

Qualification for the quarter-finals is now virtually a mathematical impossibility, but Ulster can still close out their pool stages on a high note next Saturday afternoon when they welcome Bordeaux-Bègles to Kingspan Stadium – and there is still an outside chance of finishing as the third best runners-up if luck is on their side.

Speaking after the round 5 game, Kiss admitted: “We didn’t look after our ball and gave away easy penalties. There were a lot of good things from us but Exeter worked us over in the early period of the second half.

“I’ve no complaints about the yellow card as they caught us out and put us under pressure and we didn’t handle it.”