Ulster and Exiles both crash out
 For
both London Irish and Ulster, a win, a bonus point and a prayer or two
were required on Friday night.
When Ulster reached the first two captain David Humphries summed up the
necessity for the third.
He said: “We’re still alive but if Llanelli win in Toulouse
it’s over.”
The Welsh side’s miraculous comeback and resulting 41-34 victory
in France was the damning result Humphries feared. By maintaining their
100 per cent record The Scarlets killed off all other Pool 5 contenders’
hopes of qualification in the process.
But in truth it’s no more than both Ulster’s disastrous away
form and London Irish’s inconsistencies deserved. The fact that
Friday’s 29-13 win was the exact reverse of the scoreline when the
two met a week before sums up their propensity to cancel one another out.
And it may get worse because on Monday London Irish director of rugby
Brian Smith lodged an official complaint that full-back Delon Armitage
was racially abused by an Ulster player.
After the game Smith said: “One or two things have happened at the
end of each of the games that we will be formally taking forward and do
whatever we need to in terms of putting those issues in writing.
“There’s no room for some of the nonsense that one of our
players has had to put up with for two weeks in a row.”
Ulster chief executive Michael Reid replied that he was “comfortable
that the allegation is unfounded” but it’s clear no love was
lost between the sides. Smith also claimed that his captain Mike Catt
was “taken out by Neil Best”.
Catt, so influential a week earlier, was clearly worse for wear after
the bruising but legal tackle. And his half-time exit when Irish led by
two Shane Geraghty penalties to a solitary Andrew Trimble try precipitated
their downfall.
And it was a spectacular one. Humphries edged Ulster in front with the
cheekiest of tries. The away side assumed a 46th minute penalty would
be kicked and duly retreated under their posts to allow Humphries to tap
and run to the unguarded corner.
A further try from yet another impressive young Ulster forward, Neil McMillan,
set a packed Ravenhill up for a bonus point clambering finale. Paul Steinmetz
obliged touching down with two minutes remaining.
The joy was short lived as news of Llanelli’s win filtered through
on Saturday afternoon. Ulster’s seven-year wait for a knock-out
stage place becomes eight.
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