THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Halfway through Friday night, I found myself remarking to those around me, “It would be nice if somebody punched somebody else so at least we’d have something to write about!”

Of course I was jesting (violence is never an acceptable option, children), I was purely making the point that the first half of Friday night’s match dragged on so long I thought I’d be stuck at the Kingspan Stadium for the next two days. There were errors aplenty from both sides on the night, the discipline wasn’t exactly exemplary either, and genuine carved out try scoring opportunities were few and far between.

In the end, a clinical edge for Ulster was what won them the game – Paul Marshall sniping over just before the break for that all-important second try and Stuart McCloskey choosing the right option in diving over instead of going wide for the fourth. That cutting edge may have deserted them a few times during the game (Williams, Arnold and Ludik all guilty) but in the end the hosts had bottled enough of it to grab the five pointer.

It wasn’t a vintage performance by any stretch of the imagination, Neil Doak himself even admitted it in Friday night’s post-match interview. But the key thing that remains is that Ulster are getting it done at home, even when they’re not quite firing on all cylinders. That’s now 15 points from a possible 15 at home, and with the away form currently falling apart it is vital that Ulster continue in this vein.

In fact, it was rather disappointing that the away form was discussed after the game.

We’re all painfully aware of Ulster’s away record in the PRO12 (just one win since February), but it is worth remembering that Friday’s night’s victory – hard to watch as it was – equalled Ulster’s longest unbeaten home record in the league. It’ll be almost two months before Ulster get the chance to set a new record when Edinburgh visit the Kingspan Stadium in early December, but for now it is a small victory.

So where were the celebrations? Where were the happy faces afterwards? Understandably, not there.

Because while we do need to take a minute and appreciate the achievement we have just equalled, there is a stark realisation that out away form will be put sorely to the test over the next month and a half – and it is that away form that will determine whether we finish mid-table or in the hunt for a top four place come May.

After a record-equalling home win was probably the wrong moment to bring up our away form, but it is apt to address it too. Munster, Dragons and Leinster constitute our next three domestic trips away and not one of them would you say you feel confidence in us winning based on how we are currently performing on the road. You’d give us more than a fighting chance in Newport in a couple of weeks, but then again you would have said the same in Llanelli and Edinburgh.

What is the main contributing factor to our away demise?

Poor preparation? I doubt it – Neil Doak has been praised for his attention to detail and his stringent planning for games so I am extremely hesitant to believe that is the case. Besides, if any player came into an away match any less prepared than a home match then they deserve to lose the game anyway, and I cannot possibly imagine the Ulster coaching staff would allow that to happen.

A destroyed mentality? Possibly. One away loss can dent confidence. Two will dent it further. Three will cause serious doubts. Four indicates a problem. When you’re going uphill it’s very easy for someone to grab you and halt your progress – when you’re going downhill then it can be very hard to get you to stop. Are the Ulster players simply in a poor state of mind? Not for me to say but it’s a possibility.

Do we play a different style of rugby we just aren’t used to compared to when we’re at home? Again, a possibility. We always seem to kick the ball a little more away from home than what we do when we’re in Belfast, and our players just don’t seem suited to that game – all you have to do is watch Friday night’s game back to see how effective Gilroy, Ludik and Trimble are with ball in hand. I’m not a master tactician, but I wouldn’t have them kicking that much.

Or option four: perhaps we just aren’t the team we think we are.

But knowing Ulster, that most definitely isn’t the case.

WRONG CALLS?

Twitter is a cruel mistress.

Within seconds of that penalty being given, social media exploded into a tirade of abuse and disgust towards South African referee Craig Joubert. Joubert’s decision to award the Wallabies a penalty was one of high contention and it was never going to pass without some angry outbursts online and in the stands at Twickenham. Whether it was the right call or not, Australian fans were jubilant. Scottish fans were not.

Poor Joubert even doubted himself. Casting a forlorn eye toward the big screen behind the posts, the referee looked like he wasn’t entirely sure he’d made the right call. Perhaps Josh Strauss did knock the ball on, but in the melee of players, how on earth was Jon Welsh to know that was the case? Surely some leeway should have been granted to the prop, who more grabbed the ball out of the fact it was hurtling toward him as opposed to picking it up to prevent Australia from getting it. An accidental offside would have been fair.

Where Joubert cannot be faulted is the fact that he did not go to the TMO. The laws clearly state that a referee can only refer to the TMO in line with an act of foul play or to determine whether a try has been scored – this constituted neither of those stipulations. Greig Laidlaw was within his rights to ask Joubert to go upstairs and check, Joubert was correct in denying him that.

What Joubert cannot be excused for is after the game.

There is not one excuse that can be made for him sprinting off the pitch at the end of the game. Yes, he made a very controversial call that will divide opinion across the planet, but there is no justification for avoiding the Scottish players after the game. It is a cowardly act, and it may have just cost him any further participation in this World Cup.

What he should have done was blown the final whistle, backed his decision-making and shook hands with every single Scottish player, commiserated them on their defeat but also congratulated them for their monumental effort in making that game one of the most memorable quarter-finals in World Cup history and wished them all the best for their future endeavours.

Instead he is now faced with an even worse backlash than what he would have received after the game.

On top of that, World Rugby have made things even worse by releasing a statement admitting that Joubert got it wrong. The implications that come with that defy logic – where are the apologies for decisions such as the Jared Payne red card? Should there be a replay because such a big decision lost Scotland the game? Do World Rugby back their referees? It’s a very interesting question as to what World Rugby are attempting to gain from releasing that statement.

In many ways it is a great shame that such an enthralling match ended the way it did. After that game we should have been on our feet applauding two fantastic teams that battled it out tooth and nail until one side emerged victorious. Instead we are debating the actions of the referee who, up until the incidents, had a very good game in my opinion.

Your heart goes out to Scotland – they poured everything into that match and ultimately they fell agonisingly short. But at the same time all credit to the Wallabies for managing to go back up the field and force that all important penalty that won them the game because in the end it doesn’t matter how they got there – all that matters is that they are in the semis and Scotland are not.

Neither are Ireland.

It’s a sorry end to what was a rather successful tournament up until now for Joe Schmidt and his merry men. 43-20 accurately reflects the dominance Argentina possessed on Sunday, and it shows just how badly Ireland still rely on their key men. Without Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Jonathan Sexton, Ireland floundered and before they could even blink they were 17-0 down and the game already seemed beyond them.

Having to overcome France a week earlier probably did not help, especially given Argentina only had Namibia to defeat by contrast, but it still does not cover the fact that Ireland were comprehensively outplayed. Daniel Hourcade’s men showed a dynamic flair and attacking prowess that was beautifully artistic and which simply cut Ireland to pieces. Juan Imhoff and Joaquin Tuculet were fantastic with ball in hand, epitomising Argentina’s triumph.

Say what you want about Jerome Garces’ decision not to red card Ramiro Herrera for a potential second yellow card, it probably would not have made much difference. Argentina just had that extra motivation, that ability to gain that extra yard, and after the two early tries they had the momentum firmly behind them too – Argentina were the better team.

I deliberately did not dwell on this match too much this week (or Ulster’s at all) for the simple fact was we were beaten by the better side, nothing more to it. The fact that Ireland were meant to be the side that would come closest to wrestling the Webb Ellis Cup off of the All Blacks speaks volumes as to the gulf in class between the northern and southern hemisphere sides given that they were picked apart easily by the so-called weakest of the four Rugby Championship teams.

There’s no point in discussing where to go now. Ireland’s, Wales’ and Scotland’s players head back to their provinces. Pro12 rugby awaits them when they return empty handed and still reeling from their respective defeats – perhaps the World Cup disappointment will loom over them like a grey cloud or perhaps it will galvanise them to better things for their club teams. Who knows?

One thing is for certain: the best four teams in the world are in the World Cup semi-finals.

ASSESSING THE SITUATION

Many times in life we ask: was that worth it?

Most of the time the answer is yes, whether we believe it or not, and most of the time we look back on such moments with fondness once we have enough time to reflect and reminisce. It’s those times in life where, at the time, we are unsure of what the outcome has achieved for us, and that brings with it such confusion and soul-searching, but once we are able to look back we can see that it was indeed a positive thing in our life. Those kinds of moments define us.

For Joe Schmidt, this week may define him as a rugby coach.

Sunday’s defeat of France was as professional a performance as Ireland have mustered under Schmidt since he took over from Declan Kidney. They suffocated their opponents, they limited the French to speculative long shots at goal and they showed an intense physicality in the way they ruthlessly assaulted the breakdown that meant they won all those exchanges with relative ease, and aided their passage into the quarterfinals.

Sean O’Brien was immense from openside flanker. Criticised slightly for being a little subdued against Canada, Romania and Italy, the Tullow Tank put those criticisms to bed with a barnstorming performance which saw him peerless on the ground and bruisingly (no, that’s not a word but just go with it) effective with ball in hand once again.

Meanwhile, the award for the substitute with the most impact goes to Iain Henderson. On at half-time, the Ulsterman reminded everybody in the Millennium Stadium, everybody watching at home, and his coaching staff just why he should never have been dropped for this game, regardless of whether Schmidt wanted him to be saved for the quarter-final or not. Within ten minutes of coming onto the pitch Henderson stole two French lineouts in promising positions, and then proceeded to bulldoze his way through French defender after French defender on the way to another performance that drew all the plaudits it deserved.

The Irish Independent gave him a rating of 9 for the game despite only playing half of it, writing that Henderson “took over from O’Connell and took over the game”. No complaints here, that sums it up perfectly.

On the flipside, it highlights just why Schmidt will be defined as a coach now. Having gone most of this tournament with next to no injury worries, he now has a handful to deal with.

Take your pick from the group of players who were forced off on Sunday as to who Ireland will struggle to deal most without, because you could make a case for all of them. The world’s best fly half Jonathan Sexton? Talismanic captain O’Connell? Enforcer Peter O’Mahony? Try-scoring machine Keith Earls? All four are vital to the Ireland World Cup charge, and to lose even one of them would make the task of overcoming the rest of the world that bit harder.

The problem is we already know we’ll be missing one of them in O’Mahony. By the time this is published we could have lost one or two others as well (N.B. I am writing this in a mild state of depression at 10:30am on Monday with the news of O’Mahony’s injury still weighing heavily on my shoulders), and the way it is going it is all crucial players to Ireland’s successful bid who are dropping out.

In many ways my introduction is redundant. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, and no coach can pick their team around that. Schmidt was wholly justified in picking the team he did, and he will stand by the fact that it is indeed worth it. Ireland have avoided the All Blacks (until the final at the very least) and should Sexton and Earls come through their injuries as expected then Ireland won’t be as depleted as initially feared.

That does not make their job any easier.

Beware Los Pumas. Argentina have been quietly disposing of their opposition one by one with a cold ruthlessness that does not relent for anyone, and they ran the All Blacks mighty close at Wembley in their opening match too. Ireland vs. France was billed as the game to avoid the All Blacks – well the spoils of the victor aren’t exactly great either.

Where Ireland had to throw everything they had at France, Argentina had the simple task of overcoming Namibia and, as such, were able to make eleven changes to their line-up and rest most of their frontline stars. They will reach next Sunday on form, in full fitness and ready to cause an upset by dumping Ireland out at the quarterfinal stage yet again. Daniel Hourcade has drilled his men to the last degree and make no doubt about it, they will be prepared.

Ireland? They need to pick themselves up from their encounter at the Millennium Stadium, do a quick head count and then recoup and recover ahead of another brutal clash this Sunday. Even with a week’s turnaround it’s going to be a task for the players to replicate the kind of play they showed in Cardiff – but they’ll have to in order to overcome the South Americans and reach the semi-finals.

Otherwise another quarterfinal is as far as we’ll get.

HEADING HOME

And so, just a week after we saw England lose to Wales, they are out of their own World Cup.

Let that sink in for a moment. Backed by their own fans, with no travelling to do and their national stadium to play in for every pool game (bar Uruguay this weekend), England still couldn’t get the job done against either Wales or Australia and as such will be heading home with no knockout rugby to play in their own World Cup.

And when I say heading home, I really mean they’ll stay exactly where they are.

Don’t gloss over the fact that this complete humiliation for England – they are the first host nation in World Cup history not to qualify for the last eight and they only have themselves to blame. Ignoring the increasingly bizarre decision not to allow the best openside in European rugby to play for them (Steffon Armitage of Toulon), England were tactically inept and incorrect in their team selections. By the time Matt Giteau crossed to complete the drubbing on Saturday, Chris Robshaw’s men were too tired to even chase him back, which spoke volumes as to how their challenge had fallen flat.

It will probably mark the end of a sorry reign for Stuart Lancaster. The media that backed him to the hilt before the World Cup began have now mercilessly turned on him and are baying for blood to be spilt before any more damage can be done. They have every right to, of course, and Lancaster has attempted to reduce the slight arrears by playing something of an experimental side against Uruguay, but it doesn’t hide the fact that this will more than likely be the coach’s last game in charge of his national team.

English journalists Stuart Barnes and Stephen Jones were both scathing in their assessments of Lancaster’s reign, and both raised good points – what has Lancaster actually achieved since he took over in 2011?

Arguably, not much.

Despite many impressive wins, including taking down the All Blacks at Twickenham, Lancaster has never prevailed in the big games that matter. They never pushed on from that win over New Zealand. Winning at the Millennium Stadium in the opening match of this year’s Six Nations was immediately undone by a tame defeat at the hands of Ireland. And the last two weeks have finally given the heads of the RFU enough ammunition to take him down.

In short, Lancaster inherited a side with promise and didn’t do anything with them. Robshaw as captain has proved to be a flawed decision both back in Autumn 2012 and last week, the rapid rise of George Ford (who I maintain should have started against Wales and Australia even if England had won) was neglected in favour of the conservative Owen Farrell, and the selection of the unproven Sam Burgess was crazy on two fronts – one that he was played at centre where he is yet to impress at any level, and two that he was chosen over Luther Burrell who does the same role and has the experience on the international stage.

So with those thoughts in mind, it is not unreasonable to expect the RFU to act, and to act quickly in relieving Lancaster of command. Questions have arisen over whether Lancaster was even in charge of team selection (a valid argument) and even more recently whether he was involved in an altercation with referee Romain Poite at half time on Saturday night.

Even if they do back him, perhaps it would be best for the RFU to ditch him to save face.

As for the team, there are a few things they must address regardless of who will be calling the shots come the Six Nations (Jake White is conveniently available…).

Firstly they must repair their relationship with Steffon Armitage. Robshaw’s time as captain should be over, and unless he is willing to ply his trade at blindside for his country, then his starting position should be gone too. England were blown away at the breakdown on Saturday by the combined work of Pocock and Hooper, and that alone should be the catalyst needed to welcome Armitage back into the fold. Not that they should need any more reason beyond the fact he is, by a long way, the best 7 in Europe.

They must also settle on a starting fly-half, who should be George Ford, work out what Sam Burgess’ role within the setup is, if he does indeed stay within the setup, and also take a look at Joe Marler’s scrummaging – they can defend it as much as they want, it does not change the fact that he is boring in at a 90 degree angle and is illegal. Luckily Romain Poite picked up on that, probably with a certain degree of help from the scrutiny Marler got in the build up to the game.

Can England take any positives from the World Cup? If any they can be satisfied they have a world class outside centre in Jonathan Joseph with whom they can build their back line around. His performance against Australia was enough justification to show that his absence for the Wales match was one of the reasons why England lost – he brought a spark to the backline that wasn’t there a week previous.

It’s a slap in the face for England, its players, its fans and its head coach. In the build up to this World Cup England were overhyped and overestimated and they have fallen remarkably short of everything that was projected for them, and now they have to deal with the aftermath of one of the biggest disappointments in its sporting history. It will hurt, and it will take a lot of time to recover, but it starts now, even in the midst of the misery that will be heaped onto them.

And this week, there’s no reason for Robshaw to hold his head high.