Ulster stay top of Pro12 table after beating Glasgow but coach Joe Barakat still not happy

Assistant coach Joe Barakat admits he want to see a more clincial Ulster in spite of watching them stay top of the Guinness PRO12 table after a gusty 13-10 win over Glasgow Warriors at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.
Ulster's Callum Black scores against GlasgowUlster's Callum Black scores against Glasgow
Ulster's Callum Black scores against Glasgow

Trailing 5-3 at the break, Ulster dominated the second half and a first ever try for prop Callum Black on the occasion of his 100th appearance for the Province helped get Ulster over the line.

Ruan Pienaar had kicked a first half penalty in response to a Lee Jones try for Glasgow, while second half replacement outhalf Paddy Jackson converted Black’s try and added a penalty.

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Defending champions Glasgow secured a losing bonus point with a Taqele Naiyaravoro try with the final play of the game.

Barakat said it was great that the side were still leading the competition having won their last three PRO12 games, but feels the players need to show a bit more composure and patience when they come within striking distance of the opponents try line.

“We remain positive because we are still leading the competition and sometimes when you win ugly it indicates you have something right within your group,” he said.

“I thought tonight we had opportunities in the first half to finish this game and put it beyond doubt and then go on and pick up a bonus point and it did not occur, we did not have the patience, we did not have the decision makers out there to finish it off.”

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“But at the end of the day if we do not fix it up the bubble will burst.

“We have got some important games to play and we are really annoyed that we leaving bonus points out there and allowing others to take bonus points away.”

Glasgow scored two tries to Ulster’s one and defence coach Barakat did not shy from the fact that it was extremely disappointing, particularly for him.

The Scots second try to secure the losing bonus point came when they were down to 14 men and Ulster has missed out on scoring from a driving maul at the other end.

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“I was bad cop last week at our team meetings because I thought our defence was really poor, but I thought tonight it was - outside our kick chase game - generally better.

“It was quite good but when you walk away we are down 2-1 tries and someone has to take responsibility for that.

“It is my responsibility. We have averaged 1.3 tries against us per game - having two tries today is to me quite unacceptable. We have to continue to work on that,” Barakat said.