Edinburgh V Ulster & Jack Blain

 The hard start to the season continued on Monday night as Edinburgh fell, or should that be plummeted, to defeat at the hands of Ulster.

I don't think many of us would have felt too confident even before the game started. Ulster are going really well and our record against them isn't great. I had even put Ulster to win in my Superbru picks which I felt bad about but that was the reality.

And discussing the game beforehand I know I would have settled for a losing bonus point or a try bonus. I just didn't want a beating. Unfortunately that's what we got.

 Edinburgh had their moments in the match where they looked on par though. There were also a couple or three significant incidents that had they been seen differently who knows what might have happened?

The first came with Ulster's opening try. On the face of it it was a nicely worked try and the odious Stephen Ferris, who seems to revel in his antagonist role, described it as being lovely. The bottom line was that the try scoring pass was forward. It wasn't noted by the commentary team, certainly not by Ferris, who was as silent in this instance as he was noisy later on, and not by the ref or the TMO. The try stood and Edinburgh, already struggling to find their feet were now backpedalling.

Their second try of the first half came from a lineout and maul but was quite clearly truck and trailer. If that term is alien to you check this link and the picture that accompanies it. You may just recognise what you see.

https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/features/columnists/nick-cain/21919/nick-cain-lets-unhitch-this-truck-and-trailer-for-good/

It was a maul, but then the front most players detached (the truck) thereby preventing the defenders from tackling the ball carrier (the trailer) and allowing John Andrew, who was impressive throughout, to drop over for a try as the path was cleared for him by the truck.

No input from Ferris on that either surprisingly.

Cooney missed the conversion on that one so with 19 minutes gone Edinburgh were 12-0 down but despite their faltering start could have still have been level if these dubious moments had gone their way.

Worse was to come however only 5 minutes later when John Cooney scored an altogether far too easy try under the posts which he converted to make it Edinburgh 0 Ulster 25. As an aside if there were ever an example to illustrate the difference between the Irish provinces and the Scottish the fact that Cooney was playing for Ulster and not Ireland was it. He'd probably be a starter for Scotland.

So with the game all but seemingly over Edinburgh kind of found their mojo albeit only for the 10 minutes either side of the half time whistle.

Firstly some slick handling and a level of invention hitherto unseen from Edinburgh's midfield opened up a gap for Jack Blain to run a lovely line to score his first try for the club. Then after the HT oranges and hairdryer treatment Blain got his second following an Eroni Sau burst which saw him stopped just short of the line. Sau spun in the tackle and offloaded to a grateful Blain who merely had to put the ball down to double his and the clubs tally for the night.

Edinburgh were in the ascendancy at this point and before much more time had elapsed were awarded a penalty just inside the Ulster half. Seeking to keep the momentum going on the scoreboard Chamberlain was asked to kick the penalty. He had the distance but not the direction and the ball hit the upright before falling gratefully into the arms of Jamie Farndale who had been chasing it. Despite some desperate defence he was able to touch it down and the try was awarded. The resultant conversion would surely have seen Edinburgh take the lead. 

Alas no. As Chamberlain lined up the kick, those of us watching at home, well all of us, heard One Eyed Stevie in the commentary box loudly declaring that Farndale was in front of the kicker. He was indeed and after the TMO had been informed of this, by Ferris or one of the Ulster coaching team, depending on who you believe, the try was chalked off.

I have looked at the IRB's TMO protocols and nowhere does it say that pundits or coaches should be able to instigate a TMO review but that is exactly what happened here. Farndale was offside but who is next to be able to ask the TMO to look at something? Can we do a phone in from our sofas? 

What happened happened and that was the last of the fight back. Big Bill got a yellow shortly after, Ulster put their foot back on the gas and completed the job as Edinburgh disintegrated.

These are hard times but if there is one shining light to break the gloom it is the form of Jack Blain. He is a winger by trade but I described him the match programme for this game as being to the manor born at fullback. At the tender age of 18 he was the first person born this century to represent Edinburgh and now he is the first to score a try. He was also named in the PRO14 team of the week despite the cuffing that his team got. He is currently joint top try scorer for Edinburgh

 He has been ever present for Edinburgh in the last 5 games and has shown he is a tricky runner with an eye for a gap. On Monday only Ulster's Michael Lowry beat more defenders than he did. He also topped the charts for clean breaks and even made 2 turnovers.

He may not be the fullback we were looking for but we have definitely found a fullback we can rely on in the absence of the more illustrious names he may eventually surpass.