Two-try hero: Andrew Trimble
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Ulster took a clear lead in Heineken Cup Pool Four on Friday with a convincing 41-7 bonus-point win over Leicester at Ravenhill.
The home side completely outplayed their visitors with wing Andrew Trimble scoring two of Ulster's four tries to potentially knock Leicester out of the tournament.
Qualification for the knockout stages now looks impossible for the two-time champions, whereas Ulster go to Clermont Auvergne knowing that a win of any sort should be enough to book them a home quarter-final.
Ulster got off to a blistering start and were seven points up in as many minutes thanks to the first try of Trimble's brace.
Trimble squeezed over in the corner after a sustained period of pressure that lasted fifteen phases. Ruan Pienaar landed the touchline conversion and then a penalty to take charge of the tie.
Geordan Murphy got on the end of a beautifully weighted miss-pass from scrum-half Ben Youngs to score Leicester's only try, which Twelvetrees converted.
But Pienaar restored order with a 47-metre penalty, and then on the stroke of half-time Trimble reached out and placed the ball over the line at full stretch for his second try following a neat short side move.
Twelvetrees hit the woodwork with a penalty kick in front of the posts shortly after the re-start and the second half went from bad to worse for the visitors.
Pienaar cooly struck three penalties to put daylight between the hosts and Leicester's Friday the 13th horror show continued when prop Dan Cole was yellow carded for dissent.
Great hands put wing Craig Gilroy over for Ulster's third try and Pienaar's conversion took Ulster past the 33 unanswered points they posted on Leicester back in 2004.
Replacement scrum-half Paul Marshall supplied the coup de grāce when he scored the bonus-point try from a quick tap-and-go.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Trimble 2, Gilroy, Marshall
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pens: Pienaar 5
For Leicester:
Try: Murphy
Con: Twelvetrees
Yellow card: Cole (Leicester - 65th min - dissent)
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Jules Salvi, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Ben Woods, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Scott Hamilton.
Venue: Ravenhill, Belfast
Referee: Romain Poite
Comments
lawynd says...
@J_HDK - Ulster need a losing bonus point; they would have a better head-to-head then against Clermont, meaning they finish top of the pile and qualify automatically. I suspect though that they can beat Clermont, although it's going to be a tight game.
Posted 11:37 15th January 2012
J_HDK says...
uh oh.... unless they beat Clermont, Ulster will probably need a few favours next week.. London Irish maybe... otherwise they'll be depending on Connacht
Posted 23:51 14th January 2012
ciaran1792 says...
olearyc5
I would drop Bowe because he is int playing rugby for the provinces. Because Fitzgerald is in flying form and the only spot that hasent been occupied by a Leinster squad member in the back line is one wing spot and perhaps half backs.Tomorrow will tell the story. Now ur choice Trimble who has hit form or Bowe who is playing abroad. I don't know about you but id like to give someone who stayed home the shot considering his form and commitment to play in Ireland I believe should be rewarded if he is needed pick him but if he is int discard him until he remembers where he should be playing his rugby.
Posted 22:56 14th January 2012
tombomb says...
'tom bomb your an idiot, Humphrys went missing hilarious, he has all the skills of a world class 10 and he shows it' 'Humphrys to be added to the mix(play for ireland) at 10' ahaha! at the moment he is probably the 5 choice fly half for ireland (sexton>o'gara>madigan>keatley>humphreys) and he calls me an idiot my point is that marshall was on the bench because humphreys was playing 10 why not play ruan at 10 and marshall at 9 also maybe you should stop calling people idiots when your remarks are not base on any evidence. from what i seen tonight and the rest of the whole season humphreys has been very poor he has no game management skills he's average at set piece kicking weak defensibly but one thing he is good at is scoring opportunistic trys but if ireland wanted a try scorching fly half then why not pick the top try scoring fly half in Europe this season ian madigan. ian humphreys is not on the same level as sexton or o'gara and at 29 will likely never be
Posted 18:33 14th January 2012
lawynd says...
@Crewerugger - I've been wondering the same thing for a while; not only is it obvious that a lot of what is good about Leicester's play is a result of Matt O'Connor rather than Cockerill but, scrummaging aside, our forwards clearly aren't getting the right coaching and ruck skills are lacking. The team is also ageing and unbalanced in several areas; at last count, we have five specialist tightheads but only two looseheads, just for a start! We also seem to be failing to bring through younger players; why sign Rob Hawkins and bring Tom Youngs back if George Chuter, good as he was, is expected to start every game? We also need a genuine contender on the openside, because Newby is a 6 and I don't rate Pienaar or Woods. Credit where credit's due though, Waldrom was an excellent signing and de Carpentier looks like a really good prospect. Ditto Sam Harrison and signing Micky Young at 9.
The backs need some serious work too; I like the rumour of Miles Benjamin as a replacement for Alesana Tuilagi but I'm not sure about Agulla still, he doesn't show enough apart from the rare moment of brilliance. And if we're not careful, we will lose Billy Twelvetrees; Anthony Allen is a good player but Twelvetrees has the potential to far surpass his ability. Seeing Matt Smith selected ahead of him is an even bigger travesty. And Geordan Murphy, club legend as he is, really shouldn't be a guaranteed starter after the end of this season.
Posted 14:41 14th January 2012
Crewerugger says...
As a tigers fan,that was painful. Ulster were dam good though. We havent come close to playing as well Ulster did last night all season, so can't have to many complaints. I think it could be time for a managment change. Not a knee gerk reaction, i have been thinking that since we lost to leinster last year. Richard has done an alright job, but i dont think he can take us any further than he already has. But their is a danger that we could go backwards. Doas anyone think the same?
Posted 12:29 14th January 2012
blametheref says...
A big scalp, great win, well done Ulster, I've never been a big Trimble fan but it looks like he's "come of age" and has been tranformed over the past year, good for Ulster and Ireland
Posted 10:55 14th January 2012
damo says...
Trimble is a great player as is Bowe, both need to play for Ireland this year, Luke Fitz is on great form also its going to be an interesting year we need Sexton to keep his Leinster form for Ireland and perhaps Humphrys to be added to the mix at 10 also fair play to Ulster everyone is talking about this game. Gilroy has jet shoes Caves is a very good 13 and maybe ahead of the current fit Irish 12/13 at present?
Posted 10:36 14th January 2012
BackingLeinster says...
Have to agree, on current form Trimble deserves the ring wing spot. Kidney can't ignore him anymore.
Posted 09:04 14th January 2012
olearyc5 says...
@ciaran1792
Woooa, hold on. Dont do anything too drastic. Bowe and Trimble should be in the team. Based on this performance I'd put Bowe at 13 and have Gilroy and Trimble on the wings.
Also Marshall has to be called up soon.
Posted 01:16 14th January 2012
J_HDK says...
Good to see Ulster take that scalp.Haven't seen the game yet but let's not get rahead of ourselves. The Clermont game will be a completely different kettle of fish
Posted 23:47 13th January 2012
leinsterblue says...
cracking game and great result....one more win and it should be a home quarter final - and no team will fancy going there...
Posted 23:42 13th January 2012
damo says...
tom bomb your an idiot, Humphrys went missing hilarious, he has all the skills of a world class 10 and he shows it, Ruan is a better 9 and always was since his early days with the Sharks, if Humphrys try was allowed and perhaps he took the kicks tonight would that change your mind, tonight Ulster were massive, performance of the year well done, P.S. Ferris is a machine, heaslip is coming into form and O'Brien is flying come on Ireland!!!!
Posted 23:40 13th January 2012
tombomb says...
poite had a great game. hes probably the only good french ref not at all biest or arrogant
Posted 23:34 13th January 2012
liam2me says...
Just goes to show how far below the pace English sides really are, fantastic demolition by Ulster. Potentially 3 Irish home QFs. Well done to Edinburgh as well, looking like a Scottish team could make the QFs at long last
Posted 23:14 13th January 2012
papachinzo says...
The Pro12 sides are just dominating this seasons Heineken Cup, especially the Irish... What a game!!!!
Posted 22:54 13th January 2012
tombomb says...
tonight showed just how good ruan and marshall are and how ian humphreys goes missing in the big games against good teams. it is the biggest injustice to continue to play ian at ten and ruan at 9 and just leave marshall on the bench.
Posted 22:43 13th January 2012
lawynd says...
Fantastic performance by Ulster, we were soundly beaten by the far better team. If they can play like that again next weekend, I see no reason why Ulster won't top the pool.
Posted 22:32 13th January 2012
Rosbif says...
Ulster grew through the game. Tigers looked tired to me. Thought Poite was excellent. Whatever happened to the fresh-faced, nippy, risk-taking Ben Youngs of last season? Or the Lions try-scoring Croft of 2 seasons ago? Pienaar (then Marshall) and Ferris respectively totally outplayed them.....
Posted 22:22 13th January 2012
ciaran1792 says...
Trimble deserves an Ireland starting position for that great performance. Bye bye Bowe hello Trimble outstanding ulster really mean that from a Leinster man congrats.
Posted 22:07 13th January 2012