European Cup/Ulster 14 Gloucester 32:In the scheme of how things had been unfolding this season for Ulster, this was no surprise, although some home fans may still be in shock. Gloucester's invitation to Ravenhill to meet a team that had won just five games in their last 16, were sitting at the bottom of the Magners Celtic League and had somehow contracted the Ireland team's virus of inexplicably underachieving, was as benign an invite to Belfast as the English Premiership leaders will ever get. They took full advantage and what will hurt the Ulster players is Gloucester didn't have to work that hard to kill the game in just 28 minutes.
Even Ulster Rugby chief executive Michael Reid was in lugubrious form in the match programme, urging Ulster fans to show patience for a team that "last season and this season quite simply just haven't delivered". Clearly Reid, like the rest of the Ravenhill full house, was thinking the worst, although few had considered just how fragile the Ulster defence had become.
Gloucester's opening score arrived with disconcerting ease after eight minutes. A break from England centre Mike Tindall was fed back on the half-way line, where flanker Akapusi Qera picked and burst through the gap. He made 40 metres before outhalf Ryan Lamb took the recycle and threaded through a kick for Lesley Vainikolo to score.
Two minutes later Tindall again broke from defence as Ulster swept forward and again the home defence opened with ease, the centre running the whole way.
If there was any respite then, it was that Lamb missed both conversions and at 10-0, Ulster were not quite belly up but were looking seriously off colour.
Seven minutes later the heart beat stopped. Coach Mark McCall will watch this try on replay by himself in a locked room and shiver with panic. Lamb picking up the ball on the left, with several Ulster players in front of him, looked as innocuous as he could be inside the 22. A shimmy, a change of balance, a little bit of muscle and the Ulster defence became more Red Sea opening than Red Hand defending. Lamb made ground through the traffic and grounded with one hand. It was a shocking score to concede and so untypical of the old Ulster misery guts defending that had made them such a powerful force in recent times. For McCall it simply could not have been more ugly. On 17 minutes it was 0-17 and the famous home crowd fell silent. By then Gloucester had a strong sense of their destiny.
Lamb then intercepted from Paddy Wallace, ran 50 metres and offloaded to James Simpson-Daniel - 0-22. Four minutes later, it was Iain Balshaw feeding off a spilled Ulster ball and legging it down the right for 0-27 and the bonus point. Ulster hit back with two late first-half tries, Matt McCullough picking and diving after Andrew Trimble had made 40 metres and then Wallace picking a hole after the Ulster forwards banged away at the Gloucester try line in one of their rare shows of continuity.
Ulster turned up more in the second half, had greater territory but didn't threaten. They will look for consolation here but it is false and relative to a sorry first 40 minutes and one of the worst starts to a season in memory. With man-of-the-match Lamb kicking a penalty for 14-32 and just 12 minutes remaining Gloucester were treading water and running every ball. Ulster didn't look close to getting to within touching distance even with the introduction of Kieron Dawson and Ryan Caldwell. They left the pitch beaten dockets, most likely with the team and the coaching considering just where they can go next.
Scoring sequence - 8 mins: L Vialikolo try 0-5; 10: M Tindall try 0-10; 17: R Lamb try, con 0-17; 24: J Simpson-Daniel try 0-22; 28: I Simpson-Daniel try, Lamb con 0-29; 30: M McCullough try, P Wallace con 7-29; 40: P Wallace try, con 14-29. Half-time. 68: Lamb pen 14-32.
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, R Dewey, M McCrae; P Wallace, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best (capt), B Young, J Harrison, C Del Fava, M McCullough, N Best, R Wilson. Replacements: R Caldwell for Del Fava 51 mins; M Bartholmeusz for Cunningham 57 mins; K Dawson for Harrison 60 mins; D Humphreys for Dewy 68 mins.
GLOUCESTER: I Balshaw; J Simpson-Daniel, M Tindall, A Allen, L Vainikolo; R Lamb, R Lawson; N Wood, O Azam, C Nieto, P Buxton (capt), A Brown, A Strokosch, A Quera, L Narraway. Replacements: A Titterrell for Azam 40 mins; M Bortolami for Strokosch 51 mins; G Delve for Narraway 60 mins; C Paterson for Lamb 68 minutes; O Morgan for A Allen 76 mins.
Referee: N Owens (Wales).
