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Le MHR se rend vendredi soir à 21h en Irlande pour affronter l'Ulster. Déjà éliminés de la lutte pour les quarts de finale de la Heineken Cup
The rise of Ulster Rugby in the Heineken Cup in recent years has been such that they have won four or more Pol matches in each of the last four seasons. They have reached that goal already in the 2013/14 campaign and currently hold the only 100% record in the tournament.
Their gritty 25-8 win in Montpellier in Round 2 was one of the outstanding results of the Pool stages to date and set them on the road to a possible fourth successive foray into the knock-out stages of a tournament they last won in 1999.
“That win in France was a long time ago. I think we've all got to move on from that. The fact is that we've got them at home and we're going to try and bring some of the momentum we showed last week into the game,” admitted Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe, whose men beat Munster in a domestic derby last weekend.
“They're away and it doesn't look as though they can qualify. The one thing you never know with Montpellier is who they'll choose.
“The team that we played was totally different to the one they put out against Leicester Tigers – and that side nearly tripped Leicester up. That just shows that there's not a lot of difference in the 36-37 players in their squad.
“We won't be fooled into expecting them to field a weak side. They've got international players in their squad and they're not going to be coming here for a holiday weekend.”
Anscombe’s side could receive a double boost with the return to fitness of both Irish hooker Rory Best and Springbok lock Johan Muller. Best has been out of action since breaking his arm against the All Blacks on November 24, while Muller has been struggling with a calf injury.
Montpellier have lost their last six away games in the Top 14 and haven’t developed into the force everyone had predicted after they reached the quarter-finals last season. But the scare they gave Leicester Tigers in Round 3, when they went down 42-31 scoring four tries, is proof enough of the potency of their attack if they are in the mood.
Ulster know they need to keep on winning to try to stay ahead of the Tigers, who they meet at Welford Road in the final round of Pool matches next week.
Vaillants et accrocheurs
Ulster remain top of Pool 5 after beating Montpellier but they missed the chance to secure their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a week to spare.
Ruan Pienaar scored 17 points in a Heineken Man of the Match display that included a first-half try after
Robbie Diack’s opener.
Former All Black prop John Afoa then crossed after the break to ensure victory at Ravenill, though Ulster failed to gain the bonus point that would have booked their place in the last eight.
Instead Eric Escande capitalised on Ulster’s indiscipline with the boot as well as converting a first-half try by lock Robins Tchale Watchou as a second-string Montpellier frustrated their hosts.
Escande kicked the visitors ahead on seven minutes after Pienaar missed with his first attempt but Ulster seized control with two tries in the space of three minutes.
A perfectly-weighted cross-field kick by fly-half Paddy Jackson was plucked from the air by Diack and he proved too powerful for wing Lucas Dupont to prevent a try on 24 minutes.
Pienaar converted and then claimed Ulster’s second try moments later after Montpellier’s defence made a mess of dealing with the South African’s kick.
Dupont failed to gather a speculative punt, Andrew Trimble missed the deflection but Pienaar followed up to gather and score from close range.
However, any thoughts Ulster had of a comfortable evening were swiftly dashed when lock Watchou barged over following a break by hooker Charles Geli from a maul in midfield.
Montpellier lost two players to injury before the break but scrum-half Escande ensured they remained in touch, 17-13, at half-time.
Pienaar and Escande exchanged further kicks early in the second half before Montpellier’s inability to deal with the high ball again proved decisive. Pienaar kicked ahead and the bounce eluded Escande and fell into the hands of Gloucester-bound Afoa, who showed tremendous pace to score on 57 minutes.
With three tries in the bag, the Ulstermen only required one more for the bonus point that would guarantee their passage to the knockout stages but it eluded them for the final 20 minutes.
Darren Cave was denied by Anthony Flock, Jarod Payne saw his effort ruled out for a foot in touch and Pienaar was prevented from grounding the ball by an excellent challenge by Piere Barard as Montpellier dug deep.
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