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Page last updated at 11:26 GMT, Saturday, 13 December 2008

Williams left frustrated by draw

Matt Williams
Williams is frustrated by his team's away form in the Heineken Cup

Matt Williams was again left frustrated with his Ulster team's away form as they could only manage a 16-16 draw with the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup.

Ulster led 13-3 at the break but the Scarlets fought back to draw and end any remote hopes the Irish province had of making the knockout stage.

"We came out after half-time and tried to hold the lead rather than attack it but let them back in," said Williams.

Ryan Caldwell suffered a sprained ankle and is doubtful for the Leinster game.

Caldwell was taken off in the draw with the Scarlets and had an x-ray on the injury on Saturday morning.

The second-row's chances of facing Ulster's Irish provincial rivals in the Magners League game at Ravenhill on Saturday 27 December are described as "touch and go".

After the match in Llanelli, Williams described Ulster's away form in Europe in recent seasons as a "disgraceful statistic".

"They have never won away in Europe apart from Italy since 2003. That's not acceptable.

"They have just got to keep standing up and fighting until we get past that," said Williams.

The Ulster coach acknowledged that his side had played well in the first half which made the second-half display even more disheartening.

"We just had to get some possession in that first 20 (minutes of the second half).

"But again we kicked very poorly and only got one out of five (penalties).

"At 16-13 with four minutes on the clock we should have been much smarter.

"This team are still figuring out how to win. We are winning at home, that's easy but it's on the road where we have a problem."



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see also
Scarlets 16-16 Ulster
12 Dec 08 |  Rugby Union


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