By Jim Stokes

A dejected Rory Best leaves the field after Saturday's defeat

Coach Mark McCall has not had to view too many video nasties this season, but there will be a few choice editorial cuts to show at the Ulster post mortem this week.

Deflated after Saturday's 29-13 defeat by struggling London Irish, Ulster's chances of climbing out of the Heineken Cup group stages are now virtually nil.

Halfway through the campaign and languishing at the bottom of Pool 5 it does not look too clever for the 1999 champions.

Mathematically it's not impossible. They only have to win their remaining three games with a bonus point or two tossed in somewhere. Some chance.

No, I'm afraid Ulster blew it big style at the Madejski Stadium. Savaged and brutally exposed in most departments, London Irish strangely now have the psychological edge over the Ulster side in next week's return tie at Ulster's usually impregnable Ravenhill.

There will be a handful of seasoned veterans who will be putting their hand up at their Newforge training paddock shake-down.

For a start, London Irish looked as if they wanted to win the game while Ulster gave the impression they had just to turn up. Well, they had a rude awakening.

Indiscipline, basic handling errors, and the inability to change tack in mid-game also helped see Ulster fail to bury the ghost of not having won a European fixture on English soil for a ninth time in 11 seasons.

Only Roger Wilson can be exonerated from a lackadaisical forward display that allowed London Irish to boss them about the park and inflict ultimate defeat.

Neil Best, Justin Harrison, Matt McCullough and skipper Simon Best will not want to watch the video too many times. They are ususally first over the trenches. Not on Saturday.

Mind you, there was not much happening behind the scrum either with a quality and much-vaunted back-line unable to cope with the Exiles' blitz defence.

Ulster did string together one or two moves to cut through the Exiles' defence, but their inability to finish cost them dearly.

Strange as it may seem, but Ulster gave the impression that they were a one-trick pony - which they are not. But changing tactics looked beyond them.

Ulster are not as bad as this one singular game, but the they will have to step up to the oche next Friday and prove just what they are made of.

Too many players fell off tackles allowing Irish to make forward momentum throughout the game.

Some of the tries were embarrassingly easy for Brian Smith's side, who have been struggling to cross the whitewash this season.

David Humphreys, who did not have a good day at the office, and Paddy Wallace will be particularly red-faced at allowing the raw Shane Geraghty to float in under the posts midway through the second half which was the killer punch of the game.

True, both Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble have just returned from injury after lay-offs. Unfortunately for two of the brightest young wing hopefuls in the game, they were a little rusty and they were totally frustrated by their inability to get into the game.

Ulster, however, are not as bad as this one singular game, but the they will have to step up to the oche next Friday and prove just what they are made of.

Failure to do so will have a damaging effect on the remainder of their season, particularly with the Celtic League title still to defend.