Pic: sporting occasions.
One reckless in the air tackle, an outrageous torpedo style shoulder charge and some pretty heavy jostling at the breakdown judging by some bruised Connacht faces afterwards.
It’s all part of the game, Connacht are mixing it with the main pack now and they can expect more of the same if they maintain this form.
It was a game riddled with penalties, Connacht supporters often have a hard time believing that Alain Rolland is the same referee they see on the world stage winning plaudits. The 60th minute scrum penalty against Ronan Loughney and the ridiculous yellow card against Ray Ofisa in the first half are prime examples of why.
Yet despite the above descriptions it was a game that was gripping and intensely entertaining from start to finish for a hugely encouraging crowd of 3,761. It wasn’t a dirty game either but those incidents demonstrated Ulsters unsettled demeanor as it became apparent that they were in danger of dropping points.
The men from the north have bought big in the summer, Wannenburg, Pienaar and Muller have come in to join BJ Botha and Robbie Diack forming a springbok core to their side. Only Wannenburg was sprung on Saturday though and they might regret that during reflection this week.
Conancht were primed like never before for an Ulster game. In the past they have ramped up the pressure from within for this fixture but for once there was a healthy mix of underdog tagging and some genuine honest form coming into the contest.
In an attacking sense, Connacht were by Eric Elwood’s own admission poor going forward in this contest. In fact, in a sense, this was the least impressive display of an incredible month of rugby from the westerners yet in a broader sense it was a display that will help copper fasten the feeling that we are in the midst of a bright new era.
With twelve minutes to go in the contest, Ulster had edged ahead on the scoreboard and were finally starting to gain control of the contest. BJ Botha’s introduction at half time had wrestled the initiative in the scrums and the lineouts were at worst even from an Ulster stand-point.
Connacht were starting to look short of a spark only for the game to change on a second moment of madness from Ulster in the contest. Andrew Trimble’s reckless challenge on Mike McComish in the air earned him a deserved yellow card and flicked the momentum back towards Connacht.
There were more ups and downs in a frenetic finale but we’ll get to them anon. The game started with a ten minute spell of breathless rugby. Both sides were anxious to lay down an early marker but the first score didn’t come until the 19th minute when Paddy Wallace slotted a penalty after Ofisa was harshly sin-binned for what was deemed a trip.
Connacht responded brilliantly. Keatley nailed two penalties in three minutes, the second came after a scintillating break from Fionn Carr, he beat two out wide kicked ahead but was taken out by a wild lung from Paul Emerick, it was worthy of a red card but a yellow was dished out. Keatley converted the three points but more was coming.
The best chance of a try for the home side came after another kick and chase from Carr which yielded a five metre scrum. The ensuing attack ended with a Frank Murphy knock on when a try seemed certain. A score at that point could have set up a wildly different second half.
By half time the sides were level at six each and Walace kicked the first points of the second half. Ulster were in control for most of the third quarter but an Ian Kealtey penalty on 50 minutes meant they couldn’t pull away.
When Trimble saw yellow, Connacht rallied. A 22 metre drop out from Kealtey and a brilliant kick chase led by the inspired Keith Matthews led to a penalty just inside the Ulster half which the home number ten kicked with supreme confidence to level the scores for the fifth and last time.
Late on, Ulster had a series of scrums in the Connacht 22’ which ended in a Cillian Willis inspired turnover while Sean Cronin caught an overthrown lineout at the back and hacked forward deep into Ulster territory only for the visitors to scramble clear. A draw seemed right at that point.
Connacht : G Duffy; T Nathan, N Ta’auso, K Matthews, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan, M Swift, B Upton, M McCarthy, R Ofisa, M McComish.
Replacements: R Loughney for Wilkinson (52-60 mins), A Browne for Upton (52 mins), C Willis for Murphy (62 mins), M Nikora for Duffy (73 mins).
Sinbinned: Ofisa (18-28 mins).
Ulster: J Smith; P Emerick, D Cave, I Whitten, A Trimble; P Wallace, P Marshall; B Young, R Best, T Court, T Barker, R Caldwell, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg.
Replacements: W Faloon for Ferris (11 mins), BJ Botha for Young (42 mins), D Tuohy for Barker, N O’Connor for Whitten (both 56 mins), D McIlwaine for Emerick (67 mins), A Kyriacou for Best (71 mins), P McAllister for Botha (77 mins).
Sinbinned: Emerick (24-34 mins), Trimble (64-74 mins).
Referee : Alain Rolland (IRFU).