Investec European Champions' Cup: Leicester 38 Ulster 10
Ulster’s Champions Cup hopes aren’t dead, but they need to make up a substantial points difference next week at home to Exeter after a thumping defeat in the Leicester cold.
As temperatures dropped to below freezing, Ulster could not hold onto an early first-half lead as an error-strewn display saw Leicester Tigers cross six times, with many coming in bunches. Ethan McIlroy also limped off with an early knee injury, to make matters worse.
For all Leicester’s dominance of the ball early, Ulster struck first. They did have a Josh Bassett slip to thank for not conceding first, the Tigers wing stumbling with the line at his mercy, before Nathan Doak notched a penalty moments later.
Off the next kick-off, Ulster banked on another Leicester error. Up the high kick went from Aidan Morgan. Handré Pollard and Ollie Hassell-Collins couldn’t decide between them who should catch it.
In the end, neither of them did. The ball took an Ulster bounce as Nick Timoney was rewarded for his chase with a clear run to the line.
Not unexpectedly, Leicester didn’t take kindly to Ulster’s attempt at a smash-and-grab. For all the carrying dominance of young centre pairing Jude Postlethwaite and Ben Carson, they were cut open far too easily by their opposite numbers Solomone Kata and Izaia Perese.
Leicester lacked a killer edge as a string of poor final passes, combined with a faltering lineout, saw them spurn a number of breaks.
They did, ultimately, hold onto the ball long enough to once again expose Ulster’s narrow defence. This time, on 18 minutes, Bassett stayed on his feet to finish in the corner after the wide defenders were sucked in.
Ulster began to spend longer periods on the ball. Postlethwaite, Carson and James McNabney showed off their power.
The close passing game of the forwards exposed a few holes. Tommy Reffell, though the Wales flanker, ended three Ulster attacks with his stellar poaching.
Ulster were made to pay for their inability to turn possession into points. Zac Ward spilled a swirling high ball and Leicester won a penalty at the following scrum. Pollard kicked into the corner and once a strong maul again sucked in the defence, Bassett repeated the dose with a finish in the corner.
The second half in some ways was a mirror image of the first. Within the first 10 minutes, Leicester’s other wing, Hassell-Collins, crossed for a double of his own. He had the forwards to thank for the first effort, another rolling maul forcing Ulster to defend narrowly, leaving far too much space for the wing.
The second came less than two minutes later. This time Ulster were opened up at the scrum, their backline defence once again failing to find an answer for a flurry of decoy runners.
Hassell-Collins trailed the play nicely off his wing, taking the final pass before stepping hard off his right foot to beat the cover.
Ulster couldn’t shut the floodgates. It was Bassett who got to his hat-trick first, chipping into the 22. Ulster made a mess of dealing with it, allowing for a simple finish when the loose ball bounced into his hands.
Fast-forward a mere two minutes, Ulster were again shooting themselves in the foot. Chasing the game, overplaying in their own half, a poor pass saw the ball hit the floor.
Izaia Perese was the beneficiary, capitalising on the error to coast home in an almost identical position to where Timoney benefited just under an hour previously.
That, at least, was that from a scoring perspective. Next week, if Ulster get a bonus point win against a struggling Exeter, while Bordeaux do them a favour against the Sharks, they have a chance of overturning a points differential of 56 and sneaking through.
