Ulster need a miracle - not to mention some bizarre Pool B results - if they are to have any hope of retaining an interest in the European Cup when it gets down to the money-spinning knock-out stages. The defeat at St Helen's on Saturday, following the shock home reverse by Glasgow, has left Ulster pointless at the bottom of the table and facing an early exit before the November quarter-finals.
There was no lack of pride or passion about the all-Whites but they simply did not have the wherewithal to cause an upset in a largely drab and uninspiring encounter with the pattern dictated by a strong wind.
And the player to use the conditions to best effect was Swansea fly half Arwel Thomas, the Wales international. He mastered the gale close to perfection and was rewarded with 23 points from eight out of 10 successful goal kicks. The 11-stone out-half's contribution did not end with the boot - his darting breaks provided some of the few high spots in a generally low-key affair that Ulster at least turned into a contest when they cut the deficit to three points midway through the second half.
They did that on the back of three penalty goals from out-half Stuart Laing and his conversion of Keith Gallick's try. The number eight muscled his way over in the 47th minute just moments after losing possession in the act of diving over the line.
However, his first effort, even if he had retained possession, might have counted for nothing anyway as it came at the time Scottish panel referee Ken McCartney was 40 metres away from the action, writhing in agony on the ground after being bowled over as impressive flanker Andrew Ward launched one of Ulster's more promising raids.
McCartney recovered as did, briefly, Ulster's hopes. But the threat of being on the wrong end of a giant-killing act was enough of a spur for Swansea to move up a gear and make sure of their first two Pool points and keep their quarter-final hopes alive. Not that Ulster hadn't posed them a fair share of problems. Gallick gave an early warning of his threat by breaking powerfully away from an early scrum and flanker Ward a picture of tireless motion as he gave his all.
The centre pairing of Maurice Field and James Topping were rock solid in defence - not even Scott Gibbs, hero in South Africa for the Lions, could make an orthodox dent there - but the bottom line was that they simply did not have the ammunition.
Scoring sequence - 3-0, A Thomas pen (3 mins); 10-0, S Gibbs try, A Thomas con (18); 103, S Laing pen (23); 13-3, A Thomas pen (25); 13-6, S Laing pen (32); 16-6, A Thomas pen (38); 19-6, A Thomas pen (39); 19-13, K Gallick try, S Laing con (47); 19-16, S Laing pen (56); 22-16, A Thomas pen (57); 25-16, A Thomas pen (59); 2816, A Thomas pen (64); 33-16, H Thomas try (79).
Swansea - L Evans; R Rees, D Weatherley (H Thomas, 12 mins), S Gibbs, A Harris (A Williams, 63); A Thomas, R Jones; C Loader, G Jenkins (capt) (C Wells, 77), C Anthony, T Maullin, P Arnold (D Niblo, 25), R Appleyard, D Thomas (A Reynolds, 56), P Moriarty.
Ulster - R Morrow; S Coulter (A Park, 53 mins), J Topping, M Field, J Cunningham; S Laing, S Bell; R Mackey, S Richie (M Patton, 68), G Leslie, T McWhirter, G Longwell, S McKinty (capt), A Ward, R Gallick.
