Ulster slipped to their first EPCR Challenge Cup defeat of the season after they let slip a 14-point lead to Cardiff and lose to a last-ditch Callum Sheedy penalty.
Sheedy’s 80th minute effort capped off a storming finish from the Welsh side that for long periods looked to be heading for a second straight defeat in the competition. But after winning a scrum penalty on an Ulster put-in, Sheedy showed nerves of steel to kick Cardiff to a 29-26 win.
A rocky start from Ulster was in ways not a major surprise. With eight changes from last weeks win over Racing 92, a bedding-in period was expected and Cardiff took full advantage to establish an early foothold on the game.
Second row George Nott opened the scoring after just 6 minutes when he spotted a gapping hole in the Ulster midfield to race clear unopposed. Returning Welsh legend Leigh Halfpenny added the conversion, but he was off target minutes later after Tom Bowen had controversially added Cardiff’s second try.
In the build-up it appeared that Halfpenny was guilty of a knock-on, but following a TMO review the try was allowed to stand, much to the surprise of Ulster head coach Richie Murphy.
“Yeah, I thought for 60 minutes we were really good,” said Murphy.
“Even the early score that we conceded, the second score, I’m not sure how that’s not a knock on, it hits his hand, hits his chest and goes forward, like it’s a knock on in law.
“So, I’m not sure how the officials missed that, but we parked those situations really well and got our game going.
“It wasn’t perfect but I thought when we played and we moved the ball a little bit to space and we dominated a lot of collisions through the middle of the park as well. So, to turn that around to 28-14, really, we should see that out.”
Ulster slowly etched their way into the game and captain for the night Tom Stewart opened Ulster’s account after 21 minutes.
With the new half-back combination of Conor McKee and Jake Flannery controlling matters, Ulster continued to dominate and James Hume’s try on the stroke of half-time helped the visitors to a 14-12 lead at the break.
It got even better in the third quarter thanks to two touchdowns from Werner Kok. With a 26-12 lead, Ulster were firmly the driving seat. Or so it would seem.
But composure and discipline levels slipped from the visitors and efforts from Danny Southworth and Dan Thomas restored parity before Sheedy’s late stroke claimed an unlikely victory.
“Massively disappointing way to finish the game,” continued Murphy.
“You know, at 60 minutes we’d taken complete control of the game. 14 points up, a couple of things sort of went against us, we got a little bit loose, we probably didn’t manage a couple of big moments over those next few minutes and obviously a scum penalty later on gave them a chance to kick the goal.
“It’s amazing how many times Cardiff win in the last play of the game over here, but we knew that going into it, we knew we had to play for the 80 minutes and we probably didn’t quite do that tonight.”
A seven-point return from the first two games represents a good return, but in reality, it should be ten, but as Murphy alludes to, it still leaves Ulster in a decent place.
“We’re in a decent place, but you’ve got to deal with a game that’s right here and now and we’re disappointed and we’re a bit sore.”
