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Showing posts with label Ulster Rugby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ulster Rugby. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Sunday, 20 December 2015
Toulouse 23 - Ulster 25
Ulster kept their hopes of Champions Cup quarter-final qualification alive by completing back-to-back victories over Toulouse with a 25-23 success.
A Ruan Pienaar try helped the visitors to a 10-3 half-time lead and Andrew Trimble and Luke Marshall added second-half touchdowns for the Irish province.
Gael Fickou crossed for Toulouse, with Louis Picamoles adding a late try.
Ulster lie second in Pool One, 10 points behind Saracens, with a game in hand, but Toulouse's hopes have ended.
With two matches against bottom side Oyannax still to come, Les Kiss' side retain realistic hope of making the last eight by finishing at least second in their pool.
Having triumphed 38-0 in Belfast a week ago, Ulster began the game at the Ernest-Wallon Stadium in confident fashion and Paddy Jackson landed a third-minute penalty to give his team an early lead.
Ulster continued to enjoy territorial dominance but Pienaar and Jackson were off-target with long-range penalty attempts.
Just after the half-hour mark, Pienaar picked up and dived over the ruck to score the opening try under the posts, following a rolling maul that set up the score.
Jackson converted but three minutes later was sent to the bin when his deliberate knock-on denied the hosts a likely try-scoring opportunity.
Just before the break, replacement Rory Scholes touched down for Ulster but his 'try' was chalked off for an earlier forward pass.
Sebastien Bezy's penalty after the interval reduced the deficit, but Trimble's 45th-minute try, his 24th in the competition, put his side in control again.
Centre Stuart McCloskey broke through the Toulouse defence and Pienaar and Franco van der Merwe played their part in a slick passing manoeuvre, before Trimble stretched to touch down in the corner.
Fickou's try completed a flowing Toulouse move in the 51st minute, Bezy's conversion reduced the home side's deficit to two points and the scrum-half then kicked a penalty to nudge Toulouse in front.
Jackson replied with his second penalty and then helped set up Marshall, who collected an inside pass from Alan O'Connor, before crossing for the ultimately decisive try.
The fly half converted to put nine points between the sides but the four-time champions responded with a late try by French international Picamoles to reduce the winning margin to two points and clinch a bonus point.
Picamoles, the back-row replacement, rumbled over for a try following a maul as Ulster's hitherto reliable defences were breached, with Jean-Marc Doussain adding the additional points.
For Ulster, this was only their third-ever success on French soil while Toulouse have suffered their worst start to a European campaign since 2003.
The Irish province now face important Pro12 assignments against Connacht and Munster, while Toulouse take on fellow Top 14 title challengers Toulon and Stade Francais in their next domestic encounters.
Toulouse:
Alexis Palisson; Kunatani Kunabuli, Gael Fickou, Florian Fritz, Timoci Matanavou; Jean-Marc Doussain, Sébastien Bézy; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Census Johnston, Gregory Lamboley, Yoann Maestri, Yacouba Camara, Thierry Dusautoir, Imanol Harinordoquy
Replacements: Christopher Tolofua, Gurthro Steenkamp, Gert Muller, Joe Tekori, Louis Picamoles, Gillian Galan, David Mele, Clément Poitrenaud
Ulster:
Louis Ludik; Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Craig Gilroy; Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar; Kyle McCall, Rory Best, Wiehahn Herbst; Alan O'Connor, Franco van der Merwe; Robbie Diack, Sean Reidy, Roger Wilson.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Andrew Warwick, Ricky Lutton, Lewis Stevenson, Nick Williams, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Rory Scholes.
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Five Tries for Ulster Over Toulouse
Ulster scored a remarkable five-try 38-0 victory over Toulouse in the European Champions Cup at Ravenhill.
Nick Williams crossed in the 23rd minute and Andrew Trimble then scored a brilliant individual try to increase Ulster's lead to 17-0 at the break.
Man of the match Ruan Pienaar set up a Luke Marshall score after half-time with a brilliant cross field kick.
Stuart McCloskey and Chris Henry also crossed as Toulouse failed to score in a European game for the first time.
Ulster went into the game knowing that a second home defeat in Pool 1 could have effectively ended their hopes of making the knockout stages but this bonus-point win reignites their aspirations after this brilliant display.
After losing their opening Pool 1 fixture at home to Saracens, Ulster were a transformed with South African scrum-half Ruan Pienaar playing a crucial, match-winning role.
It was Ulster's fourth win in their last five home matches against Toulouse in Belfast and the defeat also means Toulouse have lost two of their opening three games in the tournament.
Ulster were boosted at the start by the return of hooker Rory Best to captain the side while Toulouse lost winger Maxime Medard in the warm-up and influential No 8 Louis Picamoles with a shoulder injury early in the first half.
The Irish side were on the scoreboard after 23 minutes when giant Kiwi No 8 Nick Williams barrelled over despite the presence of two defenders after Franco van der Merwe had created the opening.
Paddy Jackson added the extras just before Toulouse had their first player sin-binned, Sebastien Bezy getting the yellow-card for an infringement at the ruck. Jackson popped over the resulting penalty for 10-0.
At the other end, Toby Flood missed a second penalty of the half but at least had the consolation of seeing Ulster reduced to 14 men when Williams was shown a yellow card.
Two minutes from the interval, Ulster were 17-0 ahead when Pienaar recovered from a crude trip by Yacouba Camara to feed Andrew Trimble before the winger chipped ahead to catch his own kick for the score.
Jackson was deadly accurate with another conversion. Pienaar was the inspiration again when Ulster grabbed a third try.
His smart cross-field punt left a stretched Toulouse defence flat-footed, allowing centre Luke Marshall to score.
Despite being tight to the touchline, Jackson slotted over the conversion for 24-0.
Toulouse were shellshocked and Stuart McCloskey slalomed over for the bonus-point fourth try with a more comfortable conversion following for Jackson with still more than 20 minutes to play.
Van der Merwe added the fifth try from a driving maul with replacement kicker Ian Humphreys hitting the extras from a difficult angle for 38-0.
The two sides meet again in France next weekend.
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Rob Kearney Returns for Leinster
Rob Kearney will return to the Leinster team as they bid to put their Champions Cup disappointment behind them when they face Ulster in the Guinness Pro12 in the RDS on Friday night.
This is Kearney's first appearance since that game against Scarlets earlier this month. Zane Kirchner, winning his 50th cap for the province, is on the right win with Luke Fitzgerald completing the back three.
In a change to the half-back pairing from last weekend Luke McGrath comes in at scrum-half to partner Johnny Sexton in place of Isaac Boss.
There are four changes to Leinster's front eight from the defeat to Bath: Jack McGrath replaces Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong starts after featuring for Leinster 'A' last week, Mike McCarthy comes in to replace Hayden Triggs, and Josh van der Flier starts in the back row after his try-scoring debut in the Champions Cup.
Leinster (v Ulster Rugby, Guinness Pro12, RDS, Friday November 27, 7.35pm)
15. Rob Kearney; 14. Zane Kirchner; 13. Ben Te'o; 12. Ian Madigan; 11. Luke Fitzgerald;
10. Johnny Sexton; 9. Luke McGrath; 1. Jack McGrath; 2. Sean Cronin; 3. Tadhg Furlong;
4. Devin Toner; 5. Mike McCarthy; 6. Rhys Ruddock; 7, Josh van der Flier; 8. Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN
Replacements; 16. James Tracy; 17. Peter Dooley; 18. Martin Moore; 19. Ross Molony;
20. Dominic Ryan; 21. Eoin Reddan; 22. Noel Reid; 23. Garry Ringrose
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Jackson Out of 6 Nations
Ireland are likely to be without Ulster fly-half Paddy Jackson for the entire Six Nations tournament after he suffered a dislocated elbow.
The 23-year-old requires surgery which will keep him on the sidelines for 10 to 12 weeks after he was hurt during Ulster’s European Champions Cup defeat to Toulon on Saturday.
"Paddy Jackson suffered a dislocated elbow in Saturday's defeat to Toulon at Stade Mayol," said an Ulster statement.
"A scan on Monday revealed that he has an unstable joint and that he will require surgery. He is expected to be out of rugby for between 10 and 12 weeks."
Ireland will also be without Jonathan Sexton for their Six Nations opener against Italy on February 7, leaving Leinster’s Ian Madigan, who has played mostly at inside centre this season, as the most likely starter at No 10 in Rome, although Munster's Ian Keatley is another contender.
Sexton has been advised to rest for 12 weeks after being concussed for the fourth time in a year in November's win over Australia. He should be available to play against France in Dublin on February 14.
Ulster centre Stuart Olding, 22, is also expected to be out of action for a similar period to Jackson because of an elbow operation after he was injured against Toulon.
Meanwhile, Ireland's long-term absentees Sean O'Brien and Cian Healy are closing in on a return to action, but Leinster have ruled out either facing Wasps in the Champions Cup this weekend.
O'Brien is battling back from two consecutive shoulder operations, while prop Healy is nearing a return after a severe hamstring tear.
Leinster are hopeful they will be available to face the Dragons on February 15, but they may still struggle to feature for Ireland in the Six Nations.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Heineken Door Still Open
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The "door is still open" for Europe's top clubs to help find a solution to the row over the Heineken Cup's future, says the competition's organiser.
English and French clubs will quit the tournament next year in favour of the proposed Rugby Champions Cup.
European Rugby Cup (ERC), which has run the Heineken Cup since it began in 1995, wants to reopen talks with clubs.
"The future is best served by doing what we have all been doing for 18 years," said ERC chief Derek McGrath.
"ERC wishes to encourage everybody back to the table. There is a lot of activity to try to find solutions.
"We have stated many times that we absolutely believe that we will only find agreement when we have the full engagement of all the parties around the table. We haven't had that yet.
"We haven't had engagement and we haven't had negotiation, which is critical to find progress."
English Premiership and French Top 14 clubs are serving a notice period to leave ERC-run competitions and will not attend talks planned by the organising body next month.
They believe the Heineken Cup structure favours teams from the Pro12, which is made up of sides from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy.
Only the top six in England and France are guaranteed a place in the Heineken Cup, whereas at least 10 Celtic League outfits - including both Scottish, both Italian and a minimum of three sides each from Wales and Ireland - have certain entry into the competition.
With the Pro12 having no relegation, it is argued teams can rest players for league matches to keep them fresh for Europe, while Premiership and Top 14 teams have to fight hard just to qualify.
The English and French clubs are also unhappy with the way revenues are split between the three leagues and want to keep a greater share.
Pro12 clubs will be allowed to join the potential new tournament, but the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Rugby Unions want "full approval" of the International Rugby Board (IRB) for their clubs to take part.
Despite the English and French clubs' insistence on forming a breakaway competition, ERC chief executive McGrath insists there is still time to reach an agreement for all of Europe's top clubs to continue playing in the Heineken Cup.
"All parties bear a responsibility to find those solutions," he added at Monday's English and French launch of this season's Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cup competitions in Cardiff.
"Walking away is not respecting the obligations to those, in particular, who are not sitting at the table - the fans, the players, the sponsors - who have a significant interest in the future of the competitions.
"I sincerely believe it is in everyone's best interests to come to the meeting."
Friday, 21 December 2012
Leinster Run Ends at Ravenhill
Ulster earned a deserved victory over Leinster at Ravenhill to maintain their 100% record in this season's Pro12.
A penalty try before the interval and a Nick Williams charge over early in the second half put Ulster in control.
Ian Madigan kicked four penalties for Leinster but Ulster clinched victory when Andrew Trimble got over following Ruan Pienaar's crossfield kick.
Fergus McFadden raced in on the left wing to get Leinster's only try near the end of the match.
It was only Ulster's second win in 19 meetings between the provincial rivals and it came despite having Rory Best in the sin bin for the last 10 minutes.
It was a positive response by Mark Anscombe's men, coming six days after their Heineken Cup defeat by Northampton.
They face another all-Ireland clash next on 29 December when they are away to Munster, while Leinster are at home to Connacht.
Ulster: J Payne; A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, I Henderson, N McComb, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams.
Replacements: R Herring, C Black, A Macklin, A O'Connor, R Wilson, P Marshall, P Wallace, A D'Arcy.
Leinster: N Reid; A Conway, B Macken, G D'Arcy, F McFadden; I Madigan, E Reddan; C Healy, S Cronin, M Bent, L Cullen, D Toner, K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, J Heaslip.
Replacements: A Dundon, H van der Merwe, J Hagan, T Denton, R Ruddock, I Boss, A Goodman, A Byrne.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Gilroy Debut Only Kidney Change
Craig Gilroy will win his first full cap after being chosen ahead of Ulster team-mate Andrew Trimble for Ireland's important Test match against Argentina.
Gilroy has been rewarded with the left-wing berth after his dazzling three-try performance in last weekend's uncapped international against Fiji.
It is the only change from Ireland's 16-12 defeat by South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on 10 November.
Jonathan Sexton has been passed fit to take his place at fly-half.
The Leinster number 10 was a late withdrawal from Ireland's replacements for the Fiji game in Limerick because of slight groin problem.
However, Irish management said that had merely been a precaution.
The game with Argentina has added significance as the winners will secure a place in the top eight of the IRB rankings which are used to determine the seedings for the 2015 World Cup.
The losers will slip into the third tier of seeds for the 3 December draw and face the possibility of being selected in a pool containing two major nations.
Ireland will be attempting to end a five-Test losing sequence, their worst run for 14 years.
If Argentina add to their misery on Saturday, Kidney's position will come under intense scrutiny.
Ireland are missing highly-influential Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell, Rory Best, Stephen Ferris, Sean O'Brien and Rob Kearney to injury, but the South Africa game was a missed opportunity to claim a prized southern hemisphere scalp.
Ireland: S Zebo; T Bowe, K Earls, G D'Arcy, C Gilroy; J Sexton, C Murray; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross; D Ryan, M McCarthy; P O'Mahony, C Henry, J Heaslip (capt).
Replacements: S Cronin, D Kilcoyne, M Bent, D O'Callaghan, I Henderson, E Reddan, R O'Gara , F McFadden.
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