WHEN Ulster coaches, players and fans alike reflect on the year that was 2022, there will definitely be a feeling of what could’ve been.
Minutes away from showing holders Toulouse the door in the European Champions Cup. Seconds away from sealing a place in the first ever URC final – which they would’ve hosted.
It was a disappointing end to the 2022 season that had promised so much at the turn of the year, but in a scenario that the Ulster fanbase have come accustom to, the season ended without any silverware being picked up. Yet again it left question marks hanging over the big game mentality of the current squad.
But the year has also seen plenty of high points as slowly, very slowly, Dan McFarland builds a squad that can challenge the big hitters of club rugby.
A number of players tasted international action for the first time, including Ireland’s historic series win in New Zealand.
James Hume got to experience his first Six Nations championship while there was also a recall for Kieran Treadwell after a number of years in the international wilderness. Treadwell and Michael Lowry, on debut, were try scorers in a facile win over Italy.
Another player to earn a long overdue recall to the green shirt was Stuart McCloskey. Before November McCloskey had only six caps to his name but the Bangor man more than made up for lost time as he delivered three excellent performances.
He still has a bit to go to dislodge Robbie Henshaw as Ireland’s first choice number 12, but McCloskey has more than laid down a marker ahead of World Cup year.
Back in January Ulster were enjoying what was looking like a fruitful season.
Sitting second in the URC and unbeaten in the Champions Cup, hopes were high that the trophy famine stretching back to 2006 could maybe coming to an end.
A new year defeat to 14-man Munster failed to knock the wind out of Ulster’s sails as wins over Northampton and Clermont saw Ulster finish the pool stages of the Champions Cup with a 100 per cent record.
Three bonus-point wins from four outings gave Ulster a second placed finish in their 12-team pool. Despite that strong finish, the Gods of European rugby struck a cruel blow to the northerners' hopes of glory by pairing them with reigning champions Toulouse in a new look, two-legged round two.
This mouth-watering tie was still some time away, so it was all hands-on deck as the URC took control.
A rearranged inter-pro win over Leinster during the Six Nations saw Ulster achieve a first double over their D4 foes in 10 years.
It left Ulster in a very healthy state in the URC and also gave the team a huge lift with that trip to Toulouse on the horizon.
But first of all, Ulster had to negotiate two of South Africa’s finest in the shape of the Stormers and Bulls.
Coming into the first game on tour in the southern hemisphere on the back of a seven-game winning streak, Dan McFarland and his side were confident of becoming the first visiting URC team to win on South African soil.
And for a brief second, they thought they had achieved that when Callum Reid’s outstretched arm looked to have given Ulster a last-minute match winning try.
However, the intervention of the TMO for alleged knock-on denied the Ulstermen the score and instead Ulster had to settle for a losing bonus point.
It was such a controversial call that Tappe Henning, the head of URC referees, came out to apologise and state that the score should’ve stood as the review process was flawed.
It was of little consolation as the attention switched to a clash with the Bulls and a run-in against former number 8 Marcel Coetzee.
That first win against one of the big South African super powers looked good at the break as Ulster held a slender 9-3 lead.
However, the effects of altitude soon kicked in and as the Ulster players struggled to fill the lungs with oxygen, the Bulls powered home to 34-16 win.
Ulster returned from their two-game jaunt to South Africa with just one point to show for their efforts and they also slipped out of the top two in the rankings for the first time this season.
But there was no time to dwell on this as lying-in wait was a double date with Champions cup holders Toulouse.
The first leg at the Stadium de Toulouse was a classic. A Robert Baloucoune hat-trick inspired Ulster to a 26-20 win. It was a display that illustrated that when Ulster are on the money, they are more than worthy of dining out at the top table of European club rugby.
The second leg a week later in Belfast was just as dramatic.
An early Ethan McIlroy try had the Kingspan stadium bouncing, but Toulouse showed all their class in a roaring comeback and Antoine Dupont’s try with six minutes remaining gave the French side a seven-point win on the night, and a one-point win on aggregate.
It was a sore defeat to take and a defeat to Munster followed as the hangover lingered on.
The squad did regroup and a second trip to the Stormers in a URC semi-final was looking like it was to have a happy ending as they led 16-10 deep into injury time.
But they somehow managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory and it was the Stormers that marched into the final.
The 2022/23 season started off with a win over Connacht but two defeats to Leinster leave McFarland’s playing catch up again. The second defeat recently in Dublin has led to question the Ulster mentality as a 21-3 lead against 14-players became a 39-28 loss.
More questions were being asked a week later when Ulster opened their Champions Cup campaign with a 39-0 defeat at Sale, but some pride was restored when they fought back from 29-0 down to claim two bonus points against La Rochelle a week later.
Despite the seven-point defeat, progression to the knock-out stages is still firmly within Ulster’s grasp as they ended the year with a win over Connacht in Galway despite a late rally from the home side.
