Rugby story by Boris Webb, Sun, 15 Jan 2006 01:04:00 GMT


Irish international David Humphreys became only the fifth player to pass 500 points in Heineken Cup history, but that was the only silver lining in what was a big dark cloud for Ulster, who crashed out of the tournament after losing 8-24 to Biarritz.

The game looked even at the break with the visitors leading 8-5, but the second half belonged to them as they stamped their authority on the match. Ulster had no answers to their forays into home territory and went down tamely. Biarritz were admittedly off the boil on the occasion, but they were still good enough to walk through and can probably have a home quarter final clash.

This was Ulster's first home defeat in the European championship and virtually guarantees that they will not qualify for the quarter finals, a situation that has prevailed since 1999. Dimitri Yachvili was the star player for Biarritz and seemed to be in supreme touch. A drop goal from Julien Peyrelongue completed the formalities and Ulster's proud record lay in shambles.
Ulster coach Mark McCall was disappointed with his team's performance, "I am extremely disappointed with the result but very proud of how we played in the first half and opening 10 minutes of the second half," he said. "We went toe to toe with them for 50 minutes and were every bit as good as they were and I think that is why it was a missed opportunity. For some reason the last half-hour did not go our way - there were some critical turnovers of possession." Biarritz captain Thomas Lievremont was happy with the win and credited the forwards for it, "It's very hard for French sides to win here so we are so proud of what we did."

Match Details
Referee: D Pearson (England).

Ulster: B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs (J Topping 78), P Steinmetz, A Trimble; D Humphreys (A Larkin 60), I Boss; B Young (J Fitzpatrick 57), R Best, S Best (capt), J Harrison, M McCullough (R Frost 68), N Best, S Ferris (N McMillan 68), R Wilson.

Biarritz: N Brusque; J-B Gobelet, P Bidabe (D Lison 75), F Martin Aramburu, S Bobo (B Dambielle 80); J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; P Balan, B August, B Lecouls, J Thion, D Couzinet (O Booyse 78), T Dusautoir, I Harinordoquy (S Betsen 75), T Lievremont (capt).

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