Ulster Blown Away by Spirited Young Scarlets

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

It was a wet and very blustery Parc y Scarlets that welcomed Irish Province Ulster for the seventh round of the Rabo Direct League. Conditions were causing chaos, with road closures and power cuts hitting the town, but the Scarlet faithful still made the journey for a game played in similar conditions to the visit of the All Blacks in the 1980’s.

Following the disappointment of last week’s draw against Zebre, where Coach Simon Easterby described the Scarlets as being ‘our own worst enemy’, it was imperative that at the very least, the home team, playing in an unfamiliar blue kit, gave a good performance against an Ulster team that haven’t lost against the Scarlets since the end of October 2011.

Taking full advantage of the wind, it was Ulster that first tested the Scarlet’s defence, somehow managing to string together some passes despite the conditions. However, the strong breeze also proved to be their enemy as a mis-judged kick saw the home side offered possession and they were soon on the counter-attack.

Referee, Alain Rolland, he of the infamous Sam Warburton World Cup red card, met with the wrath of the crowd early on as he ignored a blatant offside from the visitors.

With rain being added to the swirling winds, conditions forced play to be kept among the forwards and Ulster opened the scoring with a penalty from Outside Half Ruan Piennar to give them a 3 points to 0 lead, much to the annoyance of the booing Scarlets faithful.

Despite being a man down with Aaron Shingler lying injured, Rolland continued with the play. The Scarlets kept the ball tight, working through the phases as they inched ever closer to the white wash, attempting to find some small gap in the strong Ulster defensive wall. However, possession was lost and Ulster managed to clear their lines.

A great kick from Full Back Gareth Owen saw the Scarlets once again in a strong attacking position. Wing Nic Reynolds ran the angles but was inches short with his effort. However, even in the atrocious conditions, the home side continued to attempt passing rugby and seemed to do everything but score that illusive try.

They were eventually awarded a penalty right in front of the posts for their efforts and Steve Shingler saw his kick taken by the wind through the posts to equalise the score at 3 points all.

Referee Rolland again became the focus of a huge cry of disapproval from the crowd as he seemingly ignored an attempted tip tackle on Scarlet Number 8 Sione Timani and allowed play to continue. Unfortunately not only the referee but the wind also became an extra man for Ulster as the kicking game became ruled by the elements.

The Scarlets were finally rewarded for the huge efforts and considerable possession of the first half hour with a try scored by Sione Timani that resulted from a well worked rolling maul. Unfortunately Shingler was unsuccessful with the tricky conversion from the touch line, but the Scarlets took the lead for the first time – 8 points to 3.

A superb break from Centre Gareth Maul had the crowd in fine voice as he ran from inside his own 22. Back in familiar territory in the Ulster 22, the Scarlets again inched closer to the try line but Mr Rolland decided that Josh Turnbull had spilled the ball forward whilst grounding the ball for the team’s second try.

Following Steve Shingler’s departure with what was later confirmed as an injury to his AC joint, replacement Aled Thomas increased the Scarlets lead to 11 points to 3 with a penalty right on the stroke of half time.

After the domination of the Scarlets in the first half, it was Ulster that had the opportunity to put points on the board in the second half. However, Piennar missed with his long range effort. He was on target minutes later though to bring the score line to 11 points to 6 just as the heavens opened once again.

Immense defence from the Scarlets saw them drive back the Ulster rolling maul and make crossing the gain line difficult without using the boot. Unfortunately, on one more than occasion the Scarlets kicked possession away despite their obvious advantage at the break down.

Referee Rolland finally gained the rapturous cheers of the crowd as he reached in his pocket to produce a yellow card for Replacement David Mcllwaine who had been on the pitch a matter of seconds.

Aled Thomas kicked the subsequent penalty to once more extend the Scarlets lead to 14 points to 6.

Despite continuing the strong scrummaging this season, Alain Rolland awarded Ulster a penalty from the scrum and Piennar was able to make up for his previous long range miss to give a score line of 14 points to 9.

Minutes later the booing of the crowd, coupled with the slow hand clapping accompanied Piennar’s build up to yet another penalty with justice being served as this time his kick sailed wide.

Rolland did gain further applause for his decision to sin bin Ulster Flanker Roger Wilson just as Mcllwaine returned to the pitch. This offered the Scarlets a man advantage for the remaining minutes of the game as they drove confidently up field and ever closer to the Ulster 22.

Aled Thomas was offered the chance to give the home team some breathing space and snatch Ulster’s losing bonus point from them and made no mistake in his efforts to give the Scarlets a 17 points to 9 lead with just 3 minutes remaining of the game.

The 6,506 mainly Scarlets faithful were extremely grateful for the strong winds seconds later as a cross field kick which had beaten the Scarlets defence and would have resulted in a certain Ulster try saw the ball blown over the dead ball line as the home crowd took a communal sigh of relief and fortunately soon after Rolland blew up (not literally!)

It was a victory that obviously meant a great deal to the squad as they were finally able to build on some of the momentum gained during the European Campaign. This victory also sees the Scarlets now 6th in the League.

With the Autumn Internationals beginning next week, the League takes a two week break for the start of the LV Cup competition as the Scarlets welcome the Newport Gwent Dragons to Parc y Scarlets next Friday night, kick off 7.30pm