Late Heartbreak For Ulster As Gloucester Edge It

Despite a resilient fight-back in the second half at Kingsholm, a last-gasp try for Gloucester meant heartbreak for Ulster in a 38-34 Heineken Champions Cup second round defeat.

Head coach Dan McFarland was left frustrated with Ulster’s failure to see out the result, as they lost their grip on a narrow lead with the concession of a scrum penalty and then George Barton’s decisive score.

French referee Alexandre Ruiz was a central figure in this topsy-turvy nine-try game, with Ulster receiving three yellow cards and leaking two penalty tries.

The visitors, who trailed 17-10 at half-time, produced a tremendous 24-point surge – including tries from Michael Lowry and John Cooney as well as a penalty try – but they were foiled right at the death.

Speaking in the aftermath, McFarland said: “I thought we played some really good stuff and got to 10 points up and then just decided that was the times to start giving penalties away and make the odd error, and piggyback them up the pitch.

“They were always going to be a dangerous side, they score a lot of tries. A really good point for us was not to give them openings in there and the time that we did it most was when we were 10 points up.”

He added: “The effort that we showed and the resilience that we showed given we were missing a number of our big players, big size-wise, I thought we were phenomenal there. Guys struggled early on but they turned it around and saved it in that second half.

“They put in a huge effort. I thought Dave and Al O’Connor were exceptional, I thought Nick Timoney had a really good game, I thought Jordi Murphy worked really hard, the front row did well.

“We’ve got to refocus. The interpros bring their own type of focus just like the Champions Cup does. That trip down to the west coast is a tough one for us – we’ve lost the last four times we’ve played away to Connacht.

“I’ll be looking forward to going down there and testing ourselves in trying conditions. It’ll probably be a tougher game than we had this week.”

Gloucester were first to get on the scoreboard after an initial break by full-back Kyle Moyle led to Louis Rees-Zammit driving his way over in the left corner. Lloyd Evans tagged on the conversion from the touchline.

Ulster responded quickly, however, getting themselves into prime position in the Gloucester 22. Billy Burns, the returning captain, spotted a gap and ran a great line to cut through and score against his former club. Cooney converted with 11 minutes gone.

Ulster looked set to score again after full-back Lowry put the visitors on the charge, Stuart McCloskey going on a thundering run but he was brought down just short of the try-line.

Then, after kicking a penalty to the corner, Ulster’s lineout was stolen and it was the Cherry and Whites who managed to retake the lead in the 22nd minute. Out-half Evans landed a penalty for 10-7.

The hosts were now in the ascendancy, putting pressure on Ulster at regular intervals. In defending a maul, Ireland international Rob Herring saw yellow after a number of Ulster transgressions.

Gloucester attacked again through another maul and referee Ruiz signalled for a penalty try after the drive was brought down and Alan O’Connor was dispatched to the sin-bin. Ulster were now down to 13 men for nine minutes.

Nonetheless, McFarland’s charges did really well to manage this tricky period, earning a penalty which Cooney duly knocked over to reduce the deficit to seven points.

Just as O’Connor and Herring returned to the pitch, Ulster had another penalty opportunity from just inside their own half. Cooney stepped up but as he was about to kick, the ball fell from the tee and there was no time to reset, leaving it 17-10 at the turnaround.

Gloucester came out firing in the second half, with centre Mark Atkinson getting in on the action at an advancing maul and bundling over to score. Evans’ conversion went over after bouncing off the crossbar.

The Ulstermen struck ten minutes later, with Timoney drawing the Gloucester defence and laying off an inviting pass to send Lowry through. Cooney’s conversion was good, bringing it back to a seven-point game (24-17).

Ulster drew level after an onslaught on the Gloucester defence, with the visitors getting numerous penalty advantages – a deliberate knock-on from Rees-Zammit led the referee to award a penalty try to Ulster and the Gloucester winger was also binned.

Scrum half Cooney gave Ulster the lead for the first time with an excellent penalty in the 65th minute. He then followed up two minutes later with a searing solo try in the corner. He converted to take his tally to 17 points.

Disappointingly, Ulster let their 34-24 advantage slip as Gloucester picked up another penalty try six minutes from the end. Having only just come on for his European debut, Ethan McIlroy gave away the score and was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.

Gloucester had their tails up and started to turn the screw, pounding the Ulster line well past the 80-minute mark as they sought out a late match-winning try.

Despite some dogged defending, Ulster were unable to contend with the Cherry and Whites’ re-energised attack. Young replacement Barton eventually got over from close range, meaning Ulster’s Champions Cup hopes for this season are all but over.