Little about this Magners League showdown in Ravenhill can help to put a positive spin on Connacht's performance on the night.
Ulster ran the show, helped in no small part by Connacht mistakes in the first half, and then eased away with a seven-try blitz, forcing Connacht to cough up more than 50 points for the second time this season.
Once again Connacht's Achilles heel – their erratic form – came sharply into focus. How can a team produce such a determined, spirited, and skilled performance against Leinster, then fail so abjectly against Ulster? How can Connacht defend at home, but not away? Mitigating circumstances? Well Connacht were certainly missing their talismanic captain John Muldoon – evident in the battle on the floor and defence; Ian Keatley is developing into an outhalf of note, but the youngster lacks experience and it told on Friday night; the injuries, particularly to the backline, once again meant a reshuffled three-quarters – Duffy, Nathan, and Carr were all moved from their regular positions, while Keith Matthews was making his first start since September. The positives were the set pieces – a scrum that had Ulster on the back foot all night - and a line-out, that for the main part, secured the necessary possession.
So Ulster, in claiming the bragging rights, have grabbed the initiative, the confidence, and the momentum, while Connacht have suffered another psychological setback. Fortunately it is not too late in the season. Home and away fixtures against Rovigo in a return to European rugby provide real opportunities to restore self-belief, before the traditional Christmas battles with Munster at home and Leinster in the RDS. Traditionally they have provided supporters with much to applaud in Connacht's performance, and certainly they should also produce games of greater intensity than the fare offered up in Ravenhill.
It was a poor game in which Ulster went ahead courtesy of Connacht mistakes. Ulster outhalf Ian Humphreys was on target with eight kicks from nine – missing only the last conversion when it did not matter, and their two first-half tries came from the visitors' errors. The first was a succession of blunders when Connacht were in attack with Keith Matthews as the chief architect – Frank Murphy lost possession, Keatley kicked backwards and failed to collect; and Irish international Stephen Ferris picked up the loose ball and raced through. The second came from basic defensive errors after Connacht had failed to control possession, and Fijian Nagusa took the ball at pace to touch down.
Keatley did post a penalty and was unlucky to see a second attempt hit off the post, and in a disjointed opening half Connacht could not find their rhythm until Fionn Carr grabbed Connacht's only try. That too came from turnover ball, and Nathan and Sean Cronin did well before No 8 Colm Rigney found Carr, who finished off. It certainly gave Connacht an injection of hope although Uslter finished the half with a second Humphreys' penalty when Connacht were undeservedly punished in the scrum.
Thus 20 – 10 down at the break, Connacht, despite playing much of the game in their own half, had reason to expect a better return in the second 40 minutes. They started well with a Keatley penalty to reduce the arrears to 20 – 13, but two tries in four minutes dashed Connacht's optimism.
Scottish international Simon Daniella, making a return from injury as a replacement, took an inside pass at pace to break through the porous backrow cover, and then Mark McCrea grabbed the fourth try and bonus point when Ulster turned over ball from a Connacht scrum that was in trouble with front-two injuries. At 34 – 13 it was all over as Daniella, Cave, and Cunningham all added to the tally. It was the first time Ulster had posted three league wins in a row in three years; Connacht's hopes of breaking 48 years of Belfast losses continue.
Ulster: B Cunningham; T Nagusa (S Danielli 37 ), D Cave, P Wallace (P Steinmetz 1 ), M McCrea; I Humphreys, C Willis (I Boss 67 ); J Fitzpatrick (T Court 57 ), R Best (capt ) (N Brady 67 ), B Botha (Fitzpatrick 71 ), E O'Donoghue, R Caldwell, S Ferris (M McCullough 64 ), D Pollock (K Dawson 64 ), R Diack.
Connacht: G Duffy, capt; F Carr, M Deane (J Hearty 78 ) , K Matthews, T Nathan; I Keatley (T Donnelly 56 ), F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris (R Loughney 39 ), M McCarthy, A Farley, R Ofisa, J O'Connor, C Rigney (R Loughney 49 ).
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRFU ).
