Leicester exited the European Champions Cup with barely a whimper until it was too late on Saturday night, undone by an Ulster side playing for pride and a 43-minute hat-trick for Darren Cave, a centre who is very much looking for a place in Ireland’s Six Nations starting XV.
For England the news got worse, Geoff Parling – recently called up with Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury injured – becoming yet another lock in doubt for the opening game in Cardiff.
Leicester were overburdened by the pressure of needing to score tries and were just too loose to improve their dismal record in Belfast.
They arrived at Ravenhill 12th in the pecking order for qualification needing a whole pack of cards to fall their way. Wasps’ draw against Leinster had come as another knife in the ribs of a side with a points difference of one.
But in the end they failed to clear the first hurdle, beating Ulster at home, something they had never previously managed, even in the glory seasons which followed back-to-back European titles. In theory Leicester also needed to score four tries and only two sides have managed that in Europe and no team had done it in almost five years.
On top of that, Ulster were smarting, having been beaten 60-22 by Toulon, when the reigning champions qualified for the quarter-finals with a game to go last week. Ulster’s head coach, Neil Doak, responded with eight changes, recalling a raft of internationals.
Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, had no choice but to gamble. “We needed to come to play and we got what we deserved in the end,” said Cockerill but the bad news started immediately when Parling limped off with a damaged left knee.
“It’s too early to know,” said Cockerill when asked whether Parling’s Six Nations was at risk.
However, things were getting worse on the field when one of those internationals returning to Ulster ranks, Tommy Bowe, popped up twice to build pressure which pulled Leicester left and then right where fly-half Ian Humphreys had the simple task of putting Cave over.
Humphreys failed with the conversion, but it was a full 30 minutes before Leicester exerted any concerted pressure and even then Ulster seemed comfortable in their defence. An ability to deny the the English quick ball and Leicester frustration combined and which the siege was raised and the lead extended.Alan O’Connor pounced on a loose ball and Humphreys and Cave repeated their double act, the fly-half making the break and drawing the cover which put the centre over and the home side 12-0 up at half-time.
Three minutes into the second half Cave completed his hat-trick, stepping inside Mathew Tait after Bowe had joined Humphreys in the buildup. Then Leicester’s Vereniki Goneva was sent to the sin-bin for the mildest of high tackles.
Four minutes later and down to 14 men, the side which had been looking for a try bonus point conceded one when Craig Gilroy made the best of the reduced numbers and Ruan Piennaar converted from wide out on the left to put Ulster 26 points in the clear.
Adam Thompstone got one back, but three tries in 25 minutes was far too big an ask, although Leicester did stir themselves for a decent onslaught which saw Callum Black and Wiehahn Herbst in the sin-bin for some desperate Ulster defence and Bowe shift from wing into the back row at scrum time.
