OPINION: Saracens inflict double ‘Payne’ on Ulster during Mark Anscombe reign

To make the day worse, the media were sharing the players’ wives and families or partners bus back to the airport from Twickenham stadium - and the post-match conference was delayed.

The atmosphere on the bus as we finally boarded - thankfully I was not the last - was tense, but that was understandable as among those waiting, mothers had been sitting for a while trying to keep young children occupied. As a father I know what that can be like, and my apologies were acknowledged. Everybody just wanted to get back to Belfast and head home after the disappointment.

Ulster had just lost to Saracens in the home of English rugby, the end of another European Cup journey which had been filled with great expectation coming on the back of the fact they had lost in the final the previous season.

New coach Mark Anscombe had come in to replace Brian McLaughlin, who had led Ulster to back-to-back quarter-finals - and to date the only one to take them further.

In spite of topping their pool for the first time since 1999, Ulster still ended up with an away quarter-final draw. It would be another season before they would finally achieve a home draw and ironically Saracens would play their part in another disappointment for the Irish Province.

Anscombe’s arrival came at a time when there was a resurgence in Ulster, sparked in many respects by McLaughlin over the previous three seasons, who came in and put the pride back in the Ulster jersey.

McLaughlin was an Ulsterman and there had been quite a fallout when it was confirmed the previous season he would be moving on to take a senior role with the Ulster Academy - the announcement coming before the Province reached the European Cup final.

Anscombe, a brash New Zealander, was already under pressure, needing to satisfy the expectations of many as Ulster looked to keep up with the Leinsters and Munsters.

That first season had gone well both in the former PRO12 and Heineken Cup, reaching the knockout stages in both. Ulster topped the PRO12 standings and marched onto the final with a semi-final win over Scarlets, but had to forgo home advantage - due to the redevelopment of Ravenhill - to rivals Leinster and lost 24-18 in the RDS final.

As already mentioned Ulster topped their pool in Europe, but missed out on a home quarter-final on points difference to Toulon and Saracens, and as fifth seeds made the trip back to Twickenham (they lost in the final to Leinster the year previous) and suffered defeat again.

Ulster continued to progress solidly and in the PRO12 reached the knockout stages once again, but a late try in Dublin saw Leinster snatch a 13-9 victory.

In Europe, however, Ulster were unstoppable - accounting for Leicester Tigers, Montpellier and Treviso both home and away to win six from six and go through as top seeds.

Saracens were to go through as a best runner-up and, as eighth seeds, face the Irish Province once again in the last eight, but this time in Belfast and Mark McCall, the former Ulster coach, would get his first visit to the newly-built Kingspan Stadium.

And so the stage was set, the new stadium was packed (18,000 capacity) and there were high expectations Ulster were on the road to destination Cardiff for the final.

Four minutes into the contest Ulster fullback Jared Payne’s reckless aerial challenge on his Sarries counterpart Alex Goode was deemed reckless. As French referee Jerome Garces reviewed the footage, Goode stayed on the ground and Payne waited for his sentence.

In Payne’s defence, it seemed he realised the error in the timing of his approach and did his best to pull his arms out of the way. For the prosecution, guilt hinged on the speed of the collision, the height of Goode off the ground and the fact that he would play no further part in the game. The severity of the landing turned yellow to red.

Both were to play no further part in the tie, Goode carried off on a stretcher and Payne walking off in disgrace.

Such an early red card threatened to spoil the contest, and the sight of talismanic Rory Best hobbling off after 12 minutes, but Ulster defied the odds and took the game right to the wire before going down 15-17, unable to get close enough in the closing minutes, in spite of going through 40 phases.

Ulster actually went in at the break leading 9-5 - Ruan Pienaar kicking three penalties while Chris Ashton crossed to score a try for the visitors.

Tries from Mouritz Botha and a second from Ashton, and a conversion from Owen Farrell - he had had an off day with the boot, missing all his other attempts - looked to have Saracens safely home against the 14-man Ulster.

But the Irish Province rallied and although they lost Pienaar to a shoulder injury and Paddy Jackson saw his first penalty kick rebound off the crossbar, the young international found his range with two more to put two points between the sides.

Saracens looked in trouble, but their defence dug deep as Ulster sought out a winning score - and they deserved it.

Forty phases of play, which took the clock into the red, could not deliver the points the vociferous home crowd yearned, Saracens survived and Ulster were left licking their wounds of another ‘what if?’,

Anscombe had enjoyed successful terms with Ulster - just like McLaughlin - but there were rumblings of discontent internally and he was released a year early from his contract.

The director of operations at the Province during both men’s tenures, David Humphreys, was to shock everyone that summer by resigning and joining Gloucester as director of rugby, a role he still holds today.

Ulster failed to make the knockout stages in Europe again until last season, while in the PRO12/14 reached semi-finals on three occasions. It would not be until the arrival of Dan McFarland at the start of the 2018-19 season that Ulster would again find their spark.

McCall went on to enjoy continued success with Saracens, lifting the European Cup three times - they are the current holders - and securing two Premiership titles. However, after being found guilty of a breach of the Premiership’s salary cap, the English side will be relegated to the Championship at the end of this season.