The Game V Ulster would always be the most difficult home game of the season and it turned out. Our very first defeat at Dam Health was a difficult one to take, because it could have been very different.
In the end, given the tight nature of the outcome, the events of the first 15 minutes were probably the biggest factor in the way it took place.
Almost immediately from the kick -off, James broke deep in her own semi -supported left and right of Edinburgh by Vellacott and Kinghorn respectively. Vellacott was probably a bit closer while Kinghorn was wider but had no defenders for him. For a long time probably chose to continue to Blair, but the execution of the pass was missing and it hit the ground. If it went to hand, it would have been a straight run and within 30 seconds a 7 -point lead.
That break also led to a few minutes later being injured to be replaced by Chris Dean. Dean played well afterwards, but there was no doubt that the disruption of the 10/12 axis and understanding that Kinghorn and Lang are developing contributed to the way things came true.
Just a minute or later, Stuart McIlally went up for a HIA who also led to the fact that Ulster was reduced to 14 men in the next 10 minutes.
Another minute passed and a smart overhead pass from Kinghorn left Dean in the room and he went to Crosbie. He had Hoyland in free space outside of him, but chose to hold the ball if the pass would have been the right decision and would have led to at least an attempt in the corner.
Edinburgh could have seen that 7 -minute opening at least 12 points ahead and the game would look very different. Instead, the opening score went the way of Ulster after a very hard decision by Ben Whitehouse to punish Pierre Schoeman because they were pulled out of a maul through an Ulster player and then fell over the maul of Ulster while they went backwards. Whitehouse should have made 7 decisions and because of my settlement this was the first he had had wrong.
More about the decision -making of the referees later, but it is worth mentioning it because it led to the first attempt of the game and as mentioned earlier, this opening period was crucial.
The laws of the game say that in connection with a maul that
Players who leave a maul must immediately retire behind the outdoor game. Sanction: fine.
However, the same part also says that players should not do that
Try to drag a player from a maul. Sanction: punishment
So I would say that there would have been enough dime in this case, especially with the Ulster Maul who is already declining to continue playing. Instead, Ulster gets a penalty, Edinburgh receives a warning and the attempt follows shortly thereafter.
Edinburgh still had a big chance in the first half when Chris Dean broke off the judge, handed one defender and stepped next. When he left his run, Hoyland was outside of him and his first instinct when he was looking for the offload to look outside where he expected Hoyland to still be. The wing player unfortunately had come Infield and Dean had to reconsider and the pass started to wander.
Edinburgh finally came to the scoreboard when the first half came to an end and with the score on 3-13 I was not too discouraged. We had made mistakes, were frustrated by a part of the officials and had rejected at least two very good chances, but we had had the larger part of the possession and territory and it felt as if only a very small piece of the puzzle was missing.
Only two things that are worth mentioning in the second half.
The injury to Dave Cherry was worrying and the fact that he continued in the competition, still worn, his line -out Jumpers became admirable. I think it is very important to him that, despite the fact that he is in a lot of pain, he will put the needs of the team for his own discomfort.
The second was the Mark Bennett -attempt, which was the Fillip we all needed at that stage.
While Edinburgh was on his way to Ulster’s line and the clock was added in time, we hoped that Cherry or Schoeman (for the full 80) would have received the line for what a Disney style finish was unfortunately not and the end was as disappointing as the last season of Game of Thrones.
In summary, decision -making was the downfall of Edinburgh. Two attempts left there by players who have seen little or no game for a long time and another (The Lang Break) due to poor version.
Discipline was also a problem, especially in the first 40 when Edinburgh 11 admit penalty. In the second half they only admitted 2 and won the half 7-3, so it is quite clear what could have been.
Two very early injuries also contributed. The bad weather conditions didn’t help.
What was less factor than many (including myself) would think that the decision -making of Ben Whitehouse is. I looked at every fine he gave to Edinburgh and thought he was right in one after all. The fact that someone led directly to Ulster’s attempt is just Potluck. More difficult to judge the potential exterior that he did not give, but you could see the frustration on the faces of the players and in the sound that comes from the Lothian stand.
Some will tell you that if Edinburgh had received the winning score, we would have thrown it away or that it would not have been earned. But we wore more, defeated more defenders, made more breaks and more profit of line -frowning, won more rucks, line -outs and scrums than Ulster did and their reaction to the last whistle says they were the team that was lucky.
#dam #broken