The performance of last weekend, when there was in general a welcome return to some audacious rugby, was by Ulster. Ian Humphreys weighed up safety and risk and decided to give the first the weekend off and take the second for a spin around Ravenhill.
If you are brave enough to grow such a beard you are surely of a kind for whom heading west into the prairies with just a wagon and an ox is an everyday experience. Of course, he had Stephen Ferris at his side - or, in fact pulling his wagon - a No6 who once again revealed that he could become one of the very best players of his generation.
Ferris played so well that not just one but two Stade Français players felt compelled to poke him in the eye. There is nothing more to be said about the crime of gouging, except to say that the disciplinarians who dole out bans in mere weeks bear full responsibility for its persistence, and that in the case of Ferris, its use in Ulster was a mark of respect for the performance of the ox.
Ferris not only carries a heavy load, but is blessed with speed and a sweet touch on the ball. We should enjoy him while we can, for this is a noble beast of burden moving in the fast lane of a motorway. He is utterly brilliant, but surely he cannot last.
The sounds of Ravenhill stood in stark contrast to the noises coming out of the Cardiff City Stadium. The Blues repeated their famous win of last season over Toulouse, but in dreary style.
Sam Norton-Knight kicked the ball with the same insistence as Humphreys weighed up the opportunities to run. The Welsh region that galloped in dazzling style to the semi-final last year are reduced to playing a role as the worst example of what has happened to the game this season. If one side - be it England or Cardiff - want to shut the game down it become a desperate spectacle.
The Australian Norton-Knight could be forgiven for merely carrying out orders, but it would be magnificent to hear that Humphreys too was under strict instructions to keep the forwards going forward, as the euphemism for misery goes, and that he was simply carried away by the moment. Whatever, we should praise the glory of his beard and pray that Norton-Knight discovers the powers of rebellion.
The more likely outcome is that Toulouse will cut loose at home to the Blues and that Norton-Knight will see the world only from a horizontal position. Ulster, though, seem in the mood to go to Brussels with a spring in their step. And Stade must be debilitated by the savaging they received as the eye-gougers that finally made the wheels of justice turn.
This is an extract from The Breakdown, Eddie Butler's weekly email on the world of rugby union. To subscribe click here
