Ulster’s season finished pretty much as it started, not with a bang but with a whimper. Most of the whimpering was coming from my fellow Ulster supporters as we watched another error strewn display from a disjointed and somewhat clueless team.
In the heady days at the start of the season there was hope and anticipation associated with the new regime but now there is depression and frustration as the season became as messy as an MP’s expenses claim.
There is a lot of similarity between listening to the morally corrupt MP’s justify their disgraceful claims and listening to Matt Williams’ spin. Not that I am suggesting, by any stretch of the imagination, that Matt is as bad as the freeloading parliamentarians but neither of them appear to have taken any personal responsibility for their actions instead both have chosen to point the finger of blame at the systems which “forced” them to act as they did. I guess you can either use the system as a guide for the decisions you make or you can abuse it. It must be remembered though that the choice is yours.
This weeks spin was that “the boys were already on the beach” thinking about their holidays or tours, implying that it was an end of season game and not really all that important. Fair enough and if Ulster start next season with a couple of wins and improved displays this game will quickly be forgotten. However if Ulster continue to stumble and bumble next season, matches like this will quickly be dragged up and added to the weight of pressure on the coach and team. A 33% win ratio and an eighth place finish is not a lot to show for a seasons work. Especially for a team that continues to draw the third biggest crowd in the Magners league – this sort of loyalty disserves more that the clichéd spin and misinformation emanating from Ulster headquarters.
And so to the game.
It all started well with an energetic display with the team thrusting their well rounded talents very much to the fore. Unfortunately the Red Kites cheerleading team left the field and the match kicked off much to the dismay of the dozen or so travelling supporters. Within two minutes Ulster were seven – nil down. However facing a strong wind Ulster rallied and O’Connor managed to slot over a drop goal but two quick tries by the Scarlets, aided by some shocking defence from Ulster, gave the Welsh side a comfortable lead. At this point Ulster were playing the bulk of the rugby but making some dreadful mistakes and when the sniping Marshall broke through to bring the half time score to 22 – 10 there was still a glimmer of hope for the Red Hand men as they were to turn round with the wind behind them.
Any hopes of a revival were quickly dashed with the Scarlets adding a forth try shortly after the break and with experienced heads like Danielli and Boss struggling to hold on to the ball things looked very bleak indeed. The Scarlets now appeared to break Ulster’s defensive line at will and two more tries took the Scarlets tally to 43 points before Cave scored a last minute consolation to give a final score of 43 – 17.
To their credit the players did come out to acknowledge the supporters after the game with O’Donoghue, Del Fava and Humphreys taking a bit of time to come over and thank us personally.
Let’s hope that the summer break is used wisely and that Ulster Rugby and the coaching staff put their house in order and give us a team worthy of the third best supported team in the Magners League.
Click for more pictures.
There’s a couple at the end of Blues v Edinburgh which we popped along to see on Sunday.
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