1
Ulster lift gloom with thumping Challenge Cup win over Montpellier
By Ian Cameron
Ulster have lifted the gloom hanging over the Irish province with a thumping 40-17 win on the road over Montpellier that has secured their spot in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Richie Murphy's men staged an extraordinary comeback; the Ulstermen overcoming a 14-point deficit through a series of eye-catching tries.
With a CEO, head coach and a star signing all leaving or about the leave, there have been plenty of negative headlines following the Belfast-based side in recent weeks. Ulster shoved their off-field strife to the side however with the convincing victory over the Bernard Laporte-coached Top 14 side at the GGL Stadium.
Montpellier's early lead - built on tries by Paul Willemse and Aubin Eymeri and the boot of Louis Foursans-Bourdette - crumbled following Willemse's red card when the scoreline read 17-7 in favour of the hosts.
The French team's discipline further deteriorated and it at one stage saw them temporarily reduced to just 12 men.
Indeed, the home side's shocking discipline helped the visitors make a comeback with tries from Will Addison, Robert Baloucoune, Scott Wilson, David McCann, and Stuart McCloskey, overturning. A penalty try in the dying moments of the game sealed what was a comprehensive victory.
Fly-half John Cooney slotted home four conversions to add to the tally.
Ulster's triumph sets up an encounter against ASM Clermont Auvergne at Stade Marcel-Michelin next weekend.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Jake White: Ireland, Australia and Wales have the same problem
3
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
4
Let's be real about these All Blacks
5
Latest Comments
i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
Go to comments