If this was an indicator of what the Kingspan Stadium crowd can expect from watching Ulster this season, then the collective nerves of the home support will be lucky to last until Christmas.
Richie Murphy’s side somehow managed to edge out reigning champions Glasgow 20-19 in a dramatic United Rugby Championship opener on Saturday.
‘Somehow’ because for the first hour Ulster looked about 20 points worse off than their visitors but still managed to trail by just two. ‘Somehow’ because with the clock in the red at the end of the game Ulster were in their own half and going nowhere fast, behind 19-14 after Kyle Steyn had almost immediately replied to David McCann’s 74th-minute try.
But they managed to win a penalty that debutant fly-half Aidan Morgan – a tryscorer in the first half - kicked into the Glasgow 22. After successive raids by the big men on the Glasgow line, it was the smallest man on the pitch, replacement scrum-half Dave Shanahan, who eventually burrowed over to give Ulster a thrilling win that survived a late TMO check on the touchdown.
Home hands barely touched the ball before Glasgow opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Ruck infringements from second row pair Kieran Treadwell saw Glasgow make their way up the corner where their maul trundled over after a nifty shift drive from the lineout take.
Hooker Johnny Matthews touched down for the opening try that went unconverted after Tom Jordan missed his kick.
Ulster’s response was decent, albeit without making much headway. Glasgow gave them a hand with an offside penalty from a box kick but made amends with a superb defensive stand after Ulster kicked into the 22 and repeatedly battered at the visitors’ line. Glasgow did throw in a couple of penalties amidst the good defending, but kept Ulster out while playing under advantage with the home side left to settle for three points from a Doak kick in the 17th minute.
Two minutes later Morgan sparked the crowd for the first time on his competitive debut, blocking down a lazy kick from Jordan before hacking on, snagging the ball off the deck just short of the Glasgow line and popping up to the supporting Michael Lowry. Morgan recovered his feet to accept a pass from Jude Postlethwaite and dive over. Nathan Doak’s conversion gave Ulster a 10-5 lead.
In truth, it was an aberration. The first 40 minutes are all Glasgow’s and they were back in the lead in the 24th minute as pressure led to another penalty being kicked to the corner. Although Ulster were able to disrupt the lineout, Glasgow retained possession and Henco Venter carried to within a sniff of the line before finally thumping over a couple of phases later. Matthews converted to put Glasgow two in front, 12-10.
Remarkably that remained the score until the break as Ulster huffed and puffed while getting nowhere and Glasgow failed to turn their infinitely more threatening looking attacks into any hard currency.
The change of ends didn’t change the narrative. A forward pass earlier in the play chalked off a try for Rory Darge and Ulster continued to live on the edge of being picked completely apart, with the introduction of fresh props did little initially to shore up a penalty-conceding scrum.
South African Werner Kok came off the bench and Ulster’s backs finally roused themselves, while Harry Sheridan and Cormac Izuchukwu provided impetus as forward replacements, while Jordan’s high clearout on Stewart Moore reduced Glasgow to 14 men with the yellow card.
Mogan and Ethan McIlroy combined to catapult Ulster into the Glasgow 22 where they forced the Warriors into a penalty, which Morgan kicked to the corner rather than kicking over the bar to regain the lead.
Glasgow stopped the maul but Ulster’s pick-and-gos eventually won another penalty. More short-range drives for the line were repelled and, while a yellow for Richie Gray for repeated Glasgow transgressions left them briefly down to 13 men, Ulster couldn’t get the ball down over the line, leaving Glasgow to celebrate a relieving dropout.
Jordan returned to become Glasgow’s 14th man, and Ulster’s spell of pressure resumed, with a crooked lineout throw then scrum penalty concession sending them back on their heels again. Unlike their previous visit to the shadow of the Glasgow posts, Ulster made this one count with David McCann reaching over in the 73rd minute to retake the lead. Morgan scuffed his conversion and it was 15-12 with just over six minutes left.
Barely a minute later Steyn set Darge loose down the right-hand side and slick interplay with 21 put Steyn over for a try that replacement Adam Hastings converted for 19-15.
With 80 minutes up Ulster probed around midfield and managed to force a penalty Morgan booted into the 22. With a try required, Ulster set up again to hammer over.
Again and again, Glasgow held out. Until they didn’t.
