Ulster 9 Northampton Saints 10:Northampton Saints exacted a measure of revenge for last week's drubbing at Franklin's Gardens by inflicting on Ulster their first defeat of the season in the home side's 14th match.
The Irish province can have few complaints as they had enough possession and territory but could not breach a valiant visiting defence. The Saints scrambled extremely well but there was more to their game.
The showed a greater level of precision and composure and crucially took their chances, scoring the only try of the match. Compounding a disappointing night was what appeared to be a serious leg injury suffered by Tommy Bowe. He was removed on a stretcher after a six minute delay.
Northampton won this game up front, initially through their back five in the pack, who were excellent at the breakdown, and then their halfbacks who controlled the game intelligently.
Ulster’s first-half performance was pockmarked by mistakes that afflicted all aspects of their performance from simple handling errors, turnovers, poor protection of ruck ball to some ropey decision making. There were times when the offload was a high risk strategy something that the home side didn’t appreciate and it was so costly.
Nick Williams twice made excellent surges into space, the first occasion from a charge down and the second time when finding space through the centre of a ruck. The New Zealander accurately offloaded both times but the next pass was less precise and the opportunity was lost.
The Saints 10 points came from Ulster’s errors but to their credit the English club were playing with a pace, intensity and perhaps most importantly patience and precision that allowed them to implement their patterns through several phases.
From the moment they gathered Stephen Myler’s well judged kick-off, they took the Ulster defence through multiple phases, varying the point of attack from around the fringes to midfield and then closer to the touchline.
The six changes that Saints’ coach Jim Mallinder made certainly made a difference, primarily in the control and clever punting from halfbacks Lee Dickson and Steve Myler and opting to put flanker Callum Clark in the secondrow gave the back five added mobility.
Northampton benefitted hugely at the breakdown where their backrow players were able to force several turnovers at ruck time. It offered a safety valve for the pressure that Ulster were trying to build.
Myler kicked a 12-metre penalty on six minutes and then the visitors struck in earnest on 17 minutes with a try from number eight Gerrit-Jan van Velze - he would soon be replaced by Courtney Lawes - a reward for some excellent continuity and finally width though several phases.
Fullback Ben Foden looked to have knocked on a high ball but referee Nigel Owens waved play on and when the Saints won the aerial battle for Myler’s up and under, the passage culminated in the South African number eight crashing over in the corner. Myler added a touchline conversion to put his side 10-0 up.
Ulster gradually found a rhythm but turnovers and basic handling errors thwarted their efforts to maintain field position and possession. Outhalf Paddy Jackson did claw his side back into the match by kicking two penalties from three attempts to leave the home side trailing 10-6 at the interval.
Their scrum was getting on top and there were one or two other little snapshots of positivity. Jackson added a third penalty 90 seconds after the re-start but a couple of mistakes allowed the Saints access to the home side’s 22 almost immediately.
Twice the Ulster line led a charmed existence with Phil Dowson being penalised for a double movement in trying to ground the ball over the line and then Ken Pisi knocking the ball on two metres out as he tried to gather a grubber kick. The home side conceded a free kick at the resulting scrum but defended stoutly as Northampton opted for a scrum.
Despite continuing to rack up the mistakes, Ulster came back strongly, Ruan Pienaar, was short with a long-range penalty from his own half and having moved to outhalf on the introduction of Paul Marshall, he put some width on Ulster’s game. It nearly paid immediate dividends when Bowe made a half break but his no look offload eight metres out was half-intercepted.
Ulster won the lineout but after being held up over the line they conceded a penalty on their own put-in following an impressive surge from the visiting eight. Craig Gilroy underlined his wonderful running skills after coming on for Andrew Trimble but Northampton buckled but there was no definitive breach.
The home side secured a turnover in their own 22 after soaking up more pressure and from the scrum, Paul Marshall made a searing break down the blindside, racing past Tom Wood’s despairing grasp. He timed his pass perfectly to Bowe on the halfway but the Irish winger was tap tackled from behind and landed horribly on his leg – possible a broken ankle or leg. He was taken off on a stretcher after a six minute delay.
The Saints were penalised at the ruck but Pienaar from 38 metres and close to the touchline saw his effort drift narrowly wide. It kind of summed up the night for the home side: close but not good enough.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins:Myler penalty, 0-3; 17:van Velze try, Myler conversion, 0-10; 29:Jackson penalty, 3-10; 37:Jackson penalty, 6-10. 41:Jackson penalty, 9-10.
ULSTER:J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, I Henderson, D Tuohy, N Williams, C Henry (capt), R Wilson. Replacements:C Gilroy for Trimble 56 mins; P Marshall for Jackson 61 mins; C Black for Court 68 mins; L Marshall for Wallace 68 mins; R Diack for Williams 71 mins; N McComb for Bowe 77 mins; R Lutton for Tuohy 79 mins.
NORTHAMPTON:B Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, T May, J Elliott; S Myler, L Dickson; S Tonga'uiha, M Haywood, P Doran-Jones; S Manoa, C Clark; T Wood, P Dowson, G-Jan van Velze. Replacements:C Lawes for van Velze 25 mins; B Mujati for Doran Jones 53 mins; A Waller for Tonga'uiha 63 mins; M Sorenson for Clark 63 mins; R McMillan for Haywood 78 mins.
Referee: Nigel Owens(Wales).
