Following a 52-24 victory for Ulster against Exeter Chiefs at the Kingspan Stadium, here’s our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup clash.
The top line
Strong performances by Nick Timoney, Nathan Doak and Cormac Izuchukwu did enough to give Ulster the bonus-point win against Exeter Chiefs at the bottom of Pool 1.
Exeter grabbed three first-half tries through the power of Paul Brown-Bampoe, Ross Vintcent and Rusi Tuima, at one point leading the hosts 17-7 as they started hot out of the blocks. Zach Wimbush added a fourth in the last minute of the game to grab a bonus point, albeit a rather meaningless one.
However, as Exeter continued their defensive lapses that have plagued their season, the line continued to leak as Ulster slowly worked their way into the match as they grabbed eight tries through the outstanding lock Izuchukwu, who grabbed a memorable hat-trick, David McCann, also snaring a brace, Timoney, Rob Herring and Ben Carson.
With veteran scrum-half John Cooney adding real impetus off the bench when the outstanding Doak went off with a leg injury, it was all Ulster in the second half as Exeter fell apart under pressure, despite that promising start.
Last chance saloon
Whilst Ulster played well for their win, the victory leaves them in the laps of the gods in terms of qualification as they await the result of Sunday’s match between Bordeaux-Begles and the Sharks on the French Coast.
A win or any bonus point for the Sharks sees them go through, and with a superior points difference for the South African outfit, Ulster will need Bordeaux to win by a margin of 29 points if they’re to move forward in the round of 16. Given the form of UBB and the firepower at their disposal in the backline, it’s certainly on the cards, but the Sharks have underperformed greatly in this year’s Investec Champions Cup and John Plumtree’s side will travel to France trying to avoid further humiliation in the tournament.
Nevertheless, Ulster have been their own worst enemy this season, a side that defines hot and cold in the same game, as the demonstrated both at Tigers last weekend and again in this match against Exeter. It’s all down to the Sharks now and the Ulster faithful will be hoping Bordeaux continue their blistering form in the last round of the pool stages. Their second-half showing demonstrated clearly that they deserve it.
The game in numbers
If we told you that Exeter topped the carry and metres made by some distance, with 339m against Ulster’s 295m, you’d wonder quite how Exeter lost so convincingly, but in defence, Exeter missed another 35 tackles and recorded only a 77% completion rate, way below the mark required at this level.
Sure, Chiefs made 12 changes for this game but in their last two matches in Europe, they’ve conceded a massive 121 points, underlining that they’re a team that currently have no defensive coach and no confidence.
Ulster targeted the lineout and got a real return, with Chiefs only managing 79% completion on their own throw. With their scrum recording a similar score (80% success) Exeter are removing any momentum they have through poor performance in defence and set-piece, something that alludes to a shortness of both concentration and confidence.
Exeter foundations crumble
For such a beleaguered side, Exeter travelled to Ulster joint bottom of Pool 1 alongside their hosts and judging by their opening few moments, it was pretty clear that the team had pitched up with the attitude of ‘sod it, let’s give it a hit’, and that they did.
Chiefs were 12 points up after 13 minutes, with firstly Brown-Bampoe continuing his stellar try-scoring season as he crossed, followed by a brilliant run in from a ruck from Vintcent.
With Tuima adding another in the first half, this was a demonstration that underlined that there’s a good side trying to get out in that Exeter shirt, one that plays with heart and passion, even if things aren’t going their way.
However, yet again Chiefs struggled on the other side of the ball. 35 missed tackles tells its own story of the woes of the Exeter defence, and at ruck time they failed to control the breakdown for any length of time in the game. Couple in some real defensive howlers – such as throwing up two jumpers to defend an Ulster throw on their own goal line and splintering their own defensive drive – and you can rightly assume that some of Exeter’s defensive woes are down to poor organisation and preparation.
Nothing could have underlined Exeter’s inability to defend more than when they failed to get even a hand on Carson as he rumbled in from 40m with the knockout punch on the wobbling Chiefs, as their defending bordered on criminal as the visitors fell completely apart towards the end of the match. Nevertheless, with rumours abounding of pressure on Ali Hepher and others at Sandy Park, this was a performance that showed Chiefs’ ability with ball in hand, but it underlined completely their failure on the other side of the ball, errors which keep coming back to hound their season.
Test watch
Ireland have become a settled and impressive team and it’s a mark of their continued excellence that their squad remains so stable, particularly in the back-row. However, if any injury occurs, there’s not many better flankers around than Ulster’s Timoney and on his showing in this match, he’s a very unlucky man not to be part of Simon Easterby’s thinking.
The openside tackled his heart out all evening, notching 19 hits in defence and two turnovers, just to remind the national selectors of his quality, and then added a brilliant solo try, poaching at the ruck before muscling his way to the line, to cap off a high tempo performance.
One of his opposite numbers, Vintcent, playing at eight for the Chiefs, provided us with the best individual moment of the match as he grabbed a ball from the back of a ruck to gas the recalcitrant Ulster defence to notch a spectacular individual score. With competition hot in the Azzurri back-row, the Italian selectors will be pleased with the form of the versatile back-rower who’s sure to play a significant part in Italy’s campaign this season.
