Connacht v Ulster: Friday Night Takeaways
What were the main takeaways from Connacht vs Ulster?
After three defeats on the bounce in all competitions after the Autumn Series, Ulster returned to winning ways in the Christmas interpro against Connacht.
The festive derby was a scrappy battle with both sides struggling to gain momentum in the opening few minutes despite Connacht coming into this game with the advantage of two wins in Europe.
It took 28 minutes for the first try of the evening as winger Rob Lyttle dotted down.
A second half brace from hooker Tom Stewart extended the lead in Galway, before a nervy finish as Jack Carty’s final conversion sailed wide of the posts.
So, what were the main takeaways from the clash at The Sportsground.
Not pretty, but effective
Ulster’s attack wasn’t the most fluid at times as they trusted their pack to gain individual meters.
Although you could see evidence of some work being done by the backs in the build up to the Lyttle try.
It starts with skipper Iain Henderson who’s pass out the back door doesn’t quite go to plan until Stewart picks up and offloads superbly to the looping Ethan Mcilroy who passes to Luke Marshall.
Marshall attempts to find Lyttle although the pass gets deflected by Connacht fullback Tiernan O’Halloran.
Lyttle however is the first to pounce with a grubber kick for himself as he dotted down in the corner to give Ulster the lead that they never relinquished.
Tom Stewart was outstanding
A man of the match performance from the front rower who played a vital role in the opening Ulster score before scoring two tries himself early in the second half.
The first of his two tries came in the 45th minute as Ulster surged to the line with the pack rumbling forward with the assistance of inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
His second try came in the 54th minute as he showed good awareness on when to peel away from the maul and dart for the line.
The rolling maul has lured in all the Connacht forwards and centre Bundee Aki as it creates plenty of room on the openside with the maul edging closer to the corner.
Stewart waits for the perfect opportunity to strike as he spins around and rides the tackle of Carty to score his second.
It wasn’t just his try scoring antics that got him the man of the match reward, the hooker was constantly involved in the carrying in attack and fronted up with some hits in defence.
It nearly happened again
After John Cooney’s conversion to give the visitors a 19-3 lead, many would have thought that it was going to be comfortable for Dan McFarland’s men – well, I did anyway.
A late surge from Colin Blade and Jarrod Butler meant it was a 7-point game as we were entering the final play as Ulster were down to 14 men following the yellow card to Greg Jones after the team committed too many penalty offences.
The hosts had their tails up and were throwing the ball around with the clock in the red, with replacement Adam Byrne scoring in the corner to give Carty the chance to steal a draw.
Fortunately for Ulster, the conversion drifted to the left of the far post and the visitors held on to claim an away win.
A win that Ulster desperately needed after the last few weeks, especially after the Leinster and Sale matches where it all went wrong.
Another interpro around the corner
Although, there’s no time to relax on this win as Ulster return home to the Kingspan to welcome Munster on New Year’s Day.
Whilst some elements in attack and the rolling maul looked particularly powerful, there will be some work needed on the training pitch from McFarland’s side.
Also, some tightening up in the scrum is needed as it didn’t look strong tonight, Ulster would need this to build a solid platform to get the backs running.
Finally, closing out games would be ideal instead of causing mayhem and destruction like we have seen in the last two interpro derbies.