ULSTER 22 BATH 15
It was mission accomplished for Ulster this afternoon at the Kingspan Stadium as a hard-fought 22 – 15 victory over Bath ensured safe passage to the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup.
The win guarantees Ulster a quarter-final berth as one of the best three group runners-up, but with matches still to be played this weekend, the identity of our next European opponents is yet to be determined, with trips to France or England both possibilities.
The visitors, already ruled out of contention for the quarter finals after five straight defeats, seemed to have saved their best performance for the final round of the group stage, pushing Dan McFarland’s side all the way and never falling any further than nine points behind.
However, tries from Marcell Coetzee, Robert Baloucoune and Will Addison – all three of whom gave standout performances – sealed the win, with John Cooney contributing two conversions and Billy Burns a penalty.
Tom O’Toole, whose recent performances at tighthead prop for the province saw him called up to the Ireland Six Nations squad this week, was the only new addition to the starting XV from last week’s fixture in Clermont, slotting in to the front row in place of the injured Marty Moore.
Addison, recovered from the injury he picked up in the same encounter, started at full-back, with Baloucoune and Jacob Stockdale on the wings, Luke Marshall and Stuart McCloskey in the centre, and the established partnership of Burns – another new Ireland call-up – and Cooney in the half-back slots.
Up front Jack McGrath and Rob Herring completed the front row alongside O’Toole, with Alan O’Connor and Iain Henderson in the engine room ahead of flankers Sean Reidy and Jordi Murphy, and Number Eight Coetzee.
Addison and Baloucoune made a lively start, combining neatly on the right wing with a cheeky blind pass from the winger almost getting his full-back over before he was brought to ground. The resulting lineout went Ulster’s way, however, and Coetzee took full advantage of a strong driving maul, fishing out of the back and skirting round the side for the sixth-minute try.
Cooney dispatched his first conversion of the afternoon, but a misfire at a defensive lineout moments later gave the visitors the opportunity to strike straight back, Freddie Burns opting for the three points when the penalty finally came – but spraying his kick wide of the posts.
Bath’s next attack proved more lucrative, Ruaridh McConnochie capitalising on Stockdale’s misjudgement of a bounce by the right-hand corner flag to snaffle the ball and poach the try, converted by Burns.
The incidents kept coming thick and fast with Bath flanker Tom Ellis yellow-carded on 21 minutes for an off-the-ball push on Cooney as Coetzee broke free in the ‘22’ with the scrum-half his option to the right, before O’Toole was forced off with an injury, replaced by Ross Kane.
Try as they might, Ulster struggled to make their numerical advantage count despite some nice touches from Stockdale, Addison and Baloucoune, and Ellis retook the field – and indeed the first half played out – with no further score.
Half-Time Score Ulster 7 Bath 7
Much better from Ulster straight from the whistle saw Baloucoune cross the whitewash within two minutes, thanks to a sublime run and offload from Addison, who darted his way through four Bath defenders before picking out his team-mate a split second before the tackle came in.
Cooney converted from the tightest of possible angles, and although Burns clawed three points back through a 45th-minute penalty, there was no stopping the Ulster tidal wave in the very next attack, Addison running in try number three thanks to some razor-sharp backline passing and a final assist from McCloskey.
It was the final contribution from Addison, noticeably limping already just before his try, and with Craig Gilroy on in his place Ulster had some defending to do before they could start to think about a possible bonus point.
Making the victory safe soon became the only concern when the power of the Bath driving maul got replacement hooker Ross Batty over on 66 minutes, and although it looked like replacement Kieran Treadwell had settled the matter three minutes later after some scrappy play in the Bath ‘22’, the try was ruled out for a forward pass after lengthy TMO reviews.
Batty soon went from hero to villain, seeing red on 73 minutes for a no-arms high tackle on Cooney, which put a premature end to the scrum-half’s afternoon and brought David Shanahan on in his place.
Ulster’s Burns brother dispatched the resulting penalty in Cooney’s absence, and now seven points ahead, the hosts took no risks in the final minutes, kicking to touch as soon as they could after the 80-minute mark.
Full-Time Score Ulster 22 Bath 15
Ulster (15 – 9) Wil Addison; Robert Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Jack McGrath, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson (c), Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee
Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Kieran Treadwell, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Bill Johnston, Craig Gilroy
Bath (15 – 9) Tom Homer; Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Jackson Willison, Max Wright, Ruaridh McConnochie; Freddie Burns, Ollie Fox
(1 – 8) Beno Obano, Jack Walker, Will Stuart, Matt Garvey, Charlie Ewels, Tom Ellis, Sam Underhill, Josh Bayliss
Replacements (16 – 23) Ross Batty, Lucas Noguera Paz, Sam Nixon, Josh McNally, Mike Williams, Chris Cook, Rhys Priestland, Tom de Glanville
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