Ulster v Exeter: Five takeaways as ‘canny coach’ gamble pays off against ‘out of steam’ Chiefs
Juarno Augustus was a start for Ulster but the semi-final was a match to forget for Exeter's Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, inset (INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
Following Ulster’s 29-12 win over Exeter in their EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final at Affidea Stadium on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways.
Top line
Intensely scrappy and frenetic was the best way to describe what unfolded in Belfast for the guts of 50 minutes before Ulster ran away with it. Missed chances had been the order in a Challenge Cup match that was a scoreless stalemate until the 27th minute.
It began with Nathan Doak being wide with a penalty kick and Michael Lowry having a try scrubbed out for Ulster due to a neck roll at a ruck. Then Harvey Skinner was wide off the tee for Exeter and the visitors also had their own try chalked off, that one for a forward pass.
A 25th-minute dust-up summed up the growing frustration, but it was soon pierced as Ulster’s Juarno Augustus and Exeter’s Ross Vintcent exchanged converted tries on 27 and 32 minutes, scores that sandwiched a sin-binning for Jacob Stockdale for his high tackle on Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. That ended the Exeter winger’s evening.
Another dust-up followed after Ulster were twice denied near the line, but they managed to grab the lead on the stroke of half-time through a Doak penalty and crucially build on it seven minutes into the second half when Stuart McCloskey produced a wicked assist for Jack Murphy to get in at the corner for a converted try and a 17-7 advantage.
This lead was extended through David McCann’s 57th-minute try and Tom Stewart’s effort nine minutes later. At 29-7, there was no route back for the now outfought English side. Campbell Ridl’s consolation only arrived with the clock in the red and it left Ulster comfortably progressing to the final in Bilbao on May 22 against either Montpellier or Dragons.
Canny coach Murphy
Injury-hampered Ulster cleared pulled their punches last week in Limerick when comfortably beaten by Munster in the United Rugby Championship, as they made 14 changes to their XV for this Challenge Cup semi-final with full-back Michael Lowry their only retained player.
Coach Richie Murphy cannily gambled that dropping to eighth place in the URC table – the last of the quarter-final qualification spots – was worth doing. Without a trophy in 20 years, Europe’s second-tier prize was, in the eyes of their coach, a treasure worth chasing and the manner of his team’s win over Exeter will please him immensely.
After all, this was the same Exeter that had blitzed Munster for 31 unanswered first-half points in a lame round of 16 encounter some weeks ago, so Ulster coming good in the second half in Belfast was a ringing endorsement for the way Murphy went about his selection business.
Challenge Cup may not be worth its weight in gold to some clubs, but for Ulster it could be just perfect as they are now just 80 minutes away from ending a silverware drought stretching back to their Celtic League title in 2006.
They had plenty of star performers, but before things clinically clicked in the second half it was stuff like the grunt of Nick Timoney in defence that was integral to their victory. When it comes to tackling, he is a regular leader on that chart for Ulster and Saturday was no different. His ability to scramble was also excellent, with his chasing down of Vintcent when the match was scoreless an important moment.
Chiefs run out of steam
There were concerns about Exeter leading into this semi-final that their season was running out of steam. Their quarter-final close shave away to Benetton was followed by PREM Rugby defeats to Northampton and Gloucester, which has left them clinging on to fourth place in the English league by a single point from Bristol.
Little moments were costing them big. Look at last weekend’s red-carded striking offence from Ethan Roots at a time when Exeter were attacking on penalty advantage, trying to save themselves in the final minute at Kingsholm. In Belfast, Exeter were shackled by nine first-half turnovers and their frustrations continued in the second period where they added another 10.
A small vignette summed up their inaccuracy. Within the space of 90 second-half seconds, they had Ben Hammersley unable to take a pass from Stephen Varney, a penalty was then given away at the resulting scrum and then after the ball was won back at a lineout, the breaking Skinner had the ball ripped from his grasp by Tom Stewart.
It was crucial as Exeter gave up the McCann try a couple of minutes later to fall 15 points behind, and that was their race run. The Chiefs really needed to get the ball into the hands of Feyi-Waboso, but the England winger’s tally was only three carries before his first-half exit following his clatter from Stockdale.
Out-and-out No.8s
In the battle for scraps, two out-and-out scrappers – the respective No.8s – had moments to enjoy. Both ended the opening half on the scoreboard with classy finishes.
The way Augustus picked up the ball one-handed with his right hand and blasted his way over through using his left shoulder in the contact was nice. So, too, was what Vintcent conjured for his try, faking a pass and then powering through Zac Ward in the contact to score.
It was headline news when PREM title winner Augustus decided to quit Northampton and take up a three-year deal at Ulster, and his first-season impact has the 28-year-old uncapped forward touted as someone Rassie Erasmus should have on the Springboks’ radar. Test rugby is, of course, something Vintcent is well-versed in as the 23-year-old broke through with Italy in 2024.
Their semi-final duel was very watchable, and Augustus was ultimately the winner of their head-to-head, his 64 minutes of involvement resulting in the player of the match award. His 50 metres off 14 carries and 13 tackles was given greater merit than Vintcent’s 36 metres off 13 carries and 15 tackles.
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Special Ward moment
There was a nice finish to this game with the Ward brothers getting to play the last 17 minutes with each other on a winning Ulster side at home in Europe. Zach, a product of the now-defunct Ireland 7s programme, was a starter on the wing and U20 international graduate Bryn was a 63rd-minute replacement for the headline-grabbing Augustus.
To see them do well in Belfast and help Ulster qualify for their first European final since 2012’s Heineken Cup decider versus Leinster was special for the family.
It was at the old Ravenhill venue in December 1998 when their father Andy inked his name in European rugby folklore, getting the call to quit a quarter-final versus Toulouse as his wife had gone into labour with Zach.
All these years later, the 27-year-old wing now has a memorable European victory to talk about on the same ground, beating Exeter to reach a final.
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