Ulster Rugby vs Exeter Chiefs

European nights at Kingspan Stadium are special occasions, they have a very particular air of expectation and of renewed ambition in players and supporters. STAYING IN EUROPE IS ULSTER’S PRIORITY

The Champions Cup, as we now know it, has brought excitement to the stadium, and last season’s despatch of Toulouse and Oyonnax brought a quarter-final place agonisingly close. But for a club with Ulster’s quality, resources and aspirations, more regular appearances at the ‘business end’ of the competition might be anticipated – and one memorable Final appearance four years ago apart – the side has not realised its potential and its hopes. With Ulster’s stadium, facilities and playing strength the envy of many across the continent, Europe remains something of a Holy Grail. This evening marks the opening home game in Pool 5, against an Exeter Chiefs club which has grown into a powerful force in England’s Premiership, and to say that for both sides that this is a ‘must win’ battle is not at all an understatement. Last Sunday – when, of course, there were more important and very human matters to dwell on – both Ulster and Exeter lost to French opposition to find themselves on the back foot already as far as qualification for the knockout stages in the New Year is concerned. The Chiefs lost heavily at Sandy Lane to the mighty Clermont Auvergne, but Head Coach Rob Baxter was furious with his players’ surrender and he was untypically unforgiving of his side’s 35-8 trouncing. Ulster’s Director of Rugby Les Kiss has been similarly critical of the manner of the 28-13 loss to Bordeaux-Begles in France that same afternoon, his frustration as his team – in the closing eight nightmarish minutes – ceding a winning position to a home side which capitalised on a few too many individual errors and on some poor decision-making. Andrew Trimble had marked his first appearance of the season, and his debut as captain, with a superbly-worked first-half try to quieten the French fans and Paddy Jackson’s boot seemed to have just done enough to record another fine success abroad though without a totally convincing display in any area of the pitch. Or what passed for a pitch! In truth both Exeter and Ulster were out-thought and, ultimately, outplayed by sides they would have realistically harboured hopes of upsetting.

And though Clermont is a constant and impressive threat in Europe Bordeaux-Begles, for all its counter-attacking merits, was taken very seriously by Ulster but management, players and supporters did believe a win was very much ‘on’, and that a promising European campaign would be launched at Chabon-Delmas. So, there will have been soul-searching aplenty in the West Country and at Kingspan Stadium this week, and for an authentic Champions Cup challenge to be mounted there are still huge hurdles ahead. While Ulster must concentrate on its own agenda: a win to stay in contention for one of those eight prized quarter-final spots. To spark real intent into that pursuit the Chiefs must be overcome, and the wounded Exeter squad will know that it cannot afford the lapses in concentration and the strangely lethargic performance which allowed France’s Top 14 leaders to romp to a bonus-point win. Baxter has fashioned an astonishingly gifted group at Sandy Lane, and the side’s chase of Saracens for the Premiership title last season was as impressive as it was eye-catching. Ulster and Exeter met in a pre-season contest in August so there will be a certain familiarity this evening, but the clubs are now competitively battle-hardened and the teams bear only a superficial resemblance to those which met at Sandy Lane when the home side won. While Ulster subsequently went on an impressive run to the top of the PRO12 table by the end of September the Chiefs stumbled somewhat early on in its latest Premiership challenge. Unsurprisingly Baxter ‘tweaked’ his line-up, and it’s something Les Kiss and Neil Doak will most certainly have noted that a distinct change of fortunes came with the return to out-half of Gareth Steenson, the Ulsterman who has created something of a legend of himself with the English side. Steenson has always been a gifted and intelligent playmaker, and while his goal-kicking prowess has been rightly hailed he has, for the best part of a decade, been the fulcrum of the team, a calm, authoritative presence, as comfortable exploiting the smallest of defensive frailties as in landing points from any distance or angle.

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