THE TOUGH GRIND

Grinding out wins is an art.

Leinster made a habit of it in their glory years under Leo Cullen and Brian O’Driscoll. Same with Munster under O’Connell and O’Gara. It was how those teams reached the lofty heights of being championship-winning teams: they could force the results they didn’t deserve.

At the Sportsground on Saturday night we saw that Ulster have evolved to a team that can grind out those close results.

They had no right to win that game, and neither did Connacht – the two sides had played each other to a rugged stalemate and had effectively cancelled each other out for 75 minutes, with a draw probably the respectable result between them. But Ulster were not about to let their winning run come to a halt.

It is said that rugby is just as much about a team’s mentality as much as their physicality, and that shone through for Ulster. They had that mental fortitude carried over from a week ago in the Stade Ernest Wallon to know that the game was not beyond them even going into the last few minutes and it was a simple strike move off the back of a scrum that set Luke Marshall through who was then able to recycle for Nick Williams to score.

It was poetry in motion. The move was slick, the recycle was rapid and Williams’ awareness to see the gap at the bottom of the ruck was top quality. Ulster may not have had a player on the field with the status that the likes of an O’Connell or an O’Driscoll would have, but they had something better: a united squad belief that they could still cross the line.

Once they did it was inevitable that Ulster would win, both because there were just three minutes left on the clock and also the fact that Connacht’s heads dropped as soon as the try was awarded.

It added that degree of professionalism to a dogged performance that is a very important win away from home in the league. Connacht spurned two kicks at goal earlier in the game and Ulster made them pay with the late blow, and they now sit fourth in the PRO12 table four points better off as opposed to just two and they have their mental belief to thank that that is the case.

And not only that, but the momentum continues to build. No, the performance was not perhaps up to the same standard as that of the two games against Toulouse, and the coaches and players are probably the first to admit that, but the win is just as important and as credible. Remember, that’s two unbeaten home records Ulster have broken in successive weeks, and this one was just as hard fought as the one in France.

It is crucial for Ulster to keep this momentum up, both for their own sakes and for the sake of Irish rugby.

With Leinster destined to miss the quarter-finals of the Champions’ Cup, and Munster more than likely joining them based on their current form, it is up to Ulster to fly the Irish flag alone in Europe. That means it will probably take two bonus point wins against Top14 basement dwellers Oyonnax and probably a losing bonus point away to Saracens as well to get there, and it will require their continued momentum to propel them to those three results.

On current form Ulster will make the quarter-finals handily. Unless Oyonnax pull one of the shocks of the year by sending out a full side for either game then a side of Ulster’s quality are more than capable of taking all ten points on offer, and armed with a stronger knowledge of their opponents and a more settled team they can give Saracens a real good game in London.

But their recent found form has been built on a strong squad ethic and a belief that all players can play their part.

With an injury list like Ulster’s, grinding out wins is a vital necessity as we face important games that will define where we are as a club heading into the New Year. It’s been a crucial part of both Leinster and Munster teams that have won trophies in the past and it is a sign that Ulster are building and becoming a team that know how to win ugly, and possibly a few trophies on top of that.

By its very definition, it isn’t pretty. But it is pretty effective.

SEASON'S CELEBRATIONS

As the festive season approaches, there is little goodwill on the island of Ireland.

Ulster’s brilliant double over Toulouse aside, last weekend’s round of Champions’ Cup fixtures just furthered the belief across Ireland that there is a widening gulf between the provinces and their counterparts from England and France with both Leinster and Munster losing at the hands of superior opponents in Toulon and Leicester.

Leinster find themselves in European wilderness – bottom of their pool after four rounds without a single win to their name. And it’s not for a lack of effort either, they put up brilliant efforts in both Bath and Toulon and they looked in relative control of Saturday’s reverse fixture against Toulon in the Aviva Stadium, however on all three occasions they fell just short of what was required of them.

Toulon are almost unplayable, even when out of form, as they are simply able to replace like for like when it comes to matches. What other side can replace Juan Smith with Mamuka Gorgodze? However Wasps proved that a disappointing Bath are easily beatable at the Rec if played correctly (they struggle to counter-act the power game) and that makes Leinster’s loss there all the harder to take.

In fact there is a genuine possibility that Leinster could end up whitewashed in this pool stage if they aren’t careful. Not to the detriment of their Pro12 hopes one should think, but if they cannot front up against Bath and Wasps, especially away in Coventry, then they will be on the receiving end of one of their worst ever pool performances in the modern era. Not exactly a positive reinforcement for Leo Cullen as a head coach.

Axel Foley isn’t faring much better either.

Armed with a fly-half who can’t hit a barn door or control a back line, Foley has to be sympathised with. Munster haven’t looked vastly inferior to Leicester in their two games against them and yet somehow they find themselves back in Limerick licking their wounds and without a point to show for their two skirmishes against the Tigers.

Munster are suffering from a lack of leadership more than anything else: while CJ Stander has stepped into the role admirably in Peter O’Mahony’s absence, they miss the Ireland flanker’s influence in the back row and what he brings to the team. On a bigger scale they miss Paul O’Connell’s legendary status in the second row, although of course there is little they can do about that. That is no slight on Mark Chisholm who has done well since his arrival from Bayonne, but the loss of O’Connell is now proving massive.

Unlike Leinster they do still stand a mathematical chance of making the quarter-finals – a bonus point win away to Treviso is more or a less a given these days and should they get their act together for the trip to Stade Francais in three weeks then they will be in with a shot of a best runner-up spot if they can then replicate that a week later at Thomond Park. But Munster now walk a very thin line regarding their Champions’ Cup hopes.

Unlike Ulster.

For the second week in a row it was a case of using the right tactics against Toulouse by the Ulster coaching staff and it paid off handsomely. Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall were once again magnificent as a centre pairing, Ruan Pienaar was a deserving man of the match as he controlled the game from scrum-half and his half-back partner Paddy Jackson showed a return to form again.

That does disservice to the rest of the team because, again, it was a remarkable performance by numbers 1 to 23. Perhaps Ulster’s success will be a shot in the arm for the rest of Irish rugby, especially when you look at Ulster’s injury list and how they’ve been able to overcome it and pull out those two results the last two weeks. Results that suddenly propel them from European oblivion back into European reckoning.

It doesn’t necessarily make them favourites to win the tournament, but in the knock-out stages anything is possible.

We’re back to Pro12 duty this weekend with a festive foray down to Galway on Boxing/St. Stephen’s Day, and it’s looking increasingly like it won’t be two full teams taking the pitch at 6pm – theirs due to injury, ours due to choice. There’ll be a danger to overlook the Pro12 in favour of the Champions’ Cup, and that is a danger that was Leinster’s downfall last season. While I am confident Ulster won’t fall foul of the same danger, there does need to be a focused mindset this weekend.

Merry Christmas one and all – and a happy St. Stephen’s Day!

BACKING IT UP

It’s time for Ulster to stop dreaming and start believing.

Before the game on Friday night if you’d asked anyone at the Kingspan Stadium if they really thought Ulster were going to triumph you’d probably have found very few who would respond positively. When you compared the two squads – the international stars of Toulouse compared to the injury ravaged Ulster team – there were very few areas for home fans to be positive. And yet by the end of the game everything had been turned on its head.

If that wasn’t a flawless performance then it was pretty close. In the build up to the game Les Kiss had put a lot of emphasis on shifting Toulouse back and forth across the pitch to tire out their big forwards – the Johnstons, Tekoris and Dusautoirs – and it was a tactic that worked wonders. No more than 15 minutes into the game some Toulouse players were already huffing and puffing and once the tries began to flow the heads dropped too.

What was even more impressive is that you can’t fault any player on the Ulster team for their effort in the victory. Where seasoned heads like Best, Pienaar and Trimble led from the front by example, it was the young players like McCall and O’Connor (whose performance makes you wonder where he’s been so far this season) who brought the performance together with stellar outings in the white shirt.

Man for man, Ulster were excellent.

And as I said, they must now start believing that the quarter-finals are not beyond them. Last year we picked up the five points at home to the Scarlets and then went out to Llanelli and left with nothing – this year we come off the back of one of our best ever European results and we must back it up otherwise it was worth nothing.

But this team is good enough to do it, and they have proved it time and time again. McCall, Best and Herbst have formed a front row that is strong enough to stand up to one of the strongest front rows in the Top14, Nick Williams looks to be hitting some fantastic form this season (sadly a little late for our liking) and our backs are lethal when they are given the ball to play with. When it all comes together, combined with the correct tactics, this team can be fantastic.

What a win on Sunday would do for our confidence and our quarter-final prospects. From what looked like European oblivion, hope has sprung eternal and there is suddenly a real chance that, if we can pull off one of the most remarkable double-header wins, we could actually reach the last eight. In the midst of Irish turmoil, Ulster would reign supreme.

And they would breathe life back into the Irish set-up.

After the Saracens defeat a month ago there was a lot of disappointment and Kiss and Best talked about how they knew that was not the true Ulster and it was a terrible night at the office. And based on what we witnessed on Friday night there is a sense that Ulster are getting close to what Kiss envisioned when he took over a few months ago.

Certainly if you look at the mindset currently in the Ulster camp as opposed to Munster and Leinster there is no comparison. Ulster are riding a personal high, while Munster fans are not confident in their team’s ability to get out of their pool after they were handed their Saracens-equivalent defeat by Leicester on Saturday night and Leinster are all but out after their loss in Toulon. Ironically it is Ulster who now probably have the best chance of qualifying for the latter stages of the tournament.

A lot has been made of the shortcomings of Irish rugby over the last few months, particularly the state of the provinces, but Connacht have gone a long way to prove that a homegrown team can still be a potent threat, while Ulster look to be putting up a good fight in Europe – and in a one-off game there is every chance that they could sneak an away win in the quarter-finals.

I’m not saying the IRFU’s problems have suddenly been alleviated by one good performance in Europe, but perhaps it suggests that things aren’t as bad as they seem. That said, let’s wait until the return leg at the Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday before jumping to hasty conclusions – defeat there and we’re right back where we started.

European Oblivion.

NECESSARY ROTATION

While watching the Dragons defeat Munster on Sunday afternoon, I was perusing through Twitter when I came across two tweets from Sunday Times journalist Stephen Jones.

The first read:

“Dragons/Munster unspectacular yet compelling considering how weakened the teams are. But Pro12 needs full sides blasting each other, weekly.”

Quickly followed by:

“This is tempting providence but with Tyler Morgan Jack Dixon and Hallam Amos back @dragonsrugby are good enough to climb the table”

Ah Stephen my friend, were it so easy.

I shall ignore the context that Stephen also appears to have forsaken, in the fact that Munster were well off colour in that game and that the Dragons were the better side, and also ignore the fact that this is a journalist who has spent most of his career flaunting the success of the English game. His knowledge of the PRO12, expert as he may claim, is limited.

In that form I shall address his two tweets in order.

Firstly, I think it is worth pointing out that the Aviva Premiership is not exactly full sides blasting each other weekly either. Saracens, for example, went to Newcastle on Sunday without the likes of Chris Ashton, Owen Farrell, Richard Wigglesworth, Schalk Brits, Alistair Hargreaves and Jacques Burger. Surely the mighty English champions Saracens wouldn’t be rotating, would they? For shame!

This is a season where, due to World Cup commitments, there are 16 consecutive weeks of rugby for PRO12 teams to traverse and no player could play all 16 weekends without facing some sort of burnout by the end. Rotation is a necessity, especially this season of all seasons, and all teams will go through it at some point.

And that leads me on to the second tweet – in the Dragons’ case the likes of Morgan and Amos are already first teamers, but for the likes of Munster’s young guns would they get their chance if it wasn’t for rotation? How much game time do you think the likes of Jordan Coghlan, Rory Scannell and David Johnston would have received this season already if it wasn’t for the World Cup and the policy of rotation?

In fact, as the time has gone on I’m warming to the policy of rotation.

Kyle McCall epitomises the benefits of rotation – drafted in due to the absences of Callum Black and Andrew Warwick against the Dragons at the start of November, McCall has taken his chance with both hands and has gone from strength to strength with his man of the match performance against Edinburgh last Friday his best game for Ulster so far. In fact, his meteoric rise is more than likely going to see him start against Toulouse on Friday night, a just reward for several great turnouts in a white shirt.

Same goes for Josh van der Flier down in Leinster. Amongst a raft of brilliant back row talent, van der Flier has been rotated into the squad and has excelled on the openside, a position that Leinster have struggled in a bit with the loss of Sean O’Brien to injury. If Leo Cullen moves Jordi Murphy to his proper position of 6/8 and focuses on putting van der Flier as O’Brien’s immediate back up then there is huge potential for him.

But this is the only way to go for the Celtic sides when you look at how they are struggling in Europe – we can’t compete with the immense strength in depth of the likes of Toulon (whose inside centre options are Ma’a Nonu, Matt Giteau and Maxime Mermoz to make a point) so giving these young players a chance is the only way that we might someday be able to compete with the mass spending of the English and French.

So there you go Stephen. Maybe the PRO12 isn’t two full teams going hell for leather at each other every week, but the policy of rotation that we’re all having to adapt is working wonders for most sides in the long term. I’m sure McCall, van der Flier and many others will be thankful for their chances, and having these players at their disposal will undoubtedly be beneficial for the provinces in years to come.

And one other thing to remember Stephen: the Premiership isn’t exactly flawless either.

WEST WAGING WAR

There is a battle a-brewing in the Emerald Isle.

While Leinster and Ulster slugged to an 8-3 bore-fest at the RDS Arena on Friday night, Connacht produced another in their line of excellent performances to take their first win at Thomond Park in 29 years, defeating Munster 18-12 with outside centre Bundee Aki excelling and scoring a remarkable late try to make sure of the win.

And it means that Pat Lam’s men still lead the way not only in the Irish pecking order but in the Guinness PRO12 too, and deservedly so it must be said. Admittedly they have benefitted from not being as badly affected by the World Cup as other sides have been, however they have carried that momentum through and Saturday night’s result confirms that they are here to stay as a force in the PRO12.

Lam has coached them extremely well and finally the Galway men are emerging from beneath the shadows of Leinster, Munster and Ulster to try and dislodge the tag of being “Ireland’s fourth province”. They made considerable strides last season and came very close to making it into the Champions’ Cup, but this season they are playing rugby that makes them look like they are genuine candidates to finish in the top four of the PRO12.

And in some way they are something for the other three provinces to look up to.

While Connacht are playing the exciting expansive rugby that Lam has brought over from New Zealand, the rest of the provinces are floundering in their wake. The World Cup will have had a detrimental effect on Leinster, Munster and Ulster, and Ulster and Munster will have had an added setback having missed a game during the Champions’ Cup, but even so Connacht’s play seems to be a step up on anything the other three can produce.

Ulster in particular are struggling for some attacking impetus having scored just one try in their last three matches with Friday night against Leinster the latest in their efforts to cross the try line.

Yes they have come up against two of the most resolute defences in Europe in the form of Saracens and Leinster, however for two weeks Les Kiss’ men haven’t even looked like coming close to crossing the try line, and with the dangerous backs at their disposal that is a massive problem. The Kingspan residents will undoubtedly be counting down the days until Charles Piutau touches down in Belfast.

It really is hard to pinpoint where Ulster are falling so flat though, because on paper they should have all the pieces they need to play a strong running game and yet they seem unable to do so. It was a backline featuring an international half-back pairing, an international centre and two international wingers and yet between them they could only make one significant line break all game. And, ironically, of all of them it was the uncapped Peter Nelson at full-back who looked most dangerous.

The likes of Rory Scholes and Sammy Arnold wait in the wings to be given a chance to add a bit of a spark to the Ulster back line, but with the games coming thick and fast and all of them just as important as the next there won’t be too many chances for them to make their mark. Like Kyle McCall, if they are given a chance then they will have to take it with both hands.

Friday’s defeat combined with other results now means Ulster have slipped to seventh in the PRO12 table and out of the Champions’ Cup qualification places. By the end of the season that should change, of course, but even so it isn’t a nice position to be in at any stage. However you do expect Connacht, Edinburgh and the Scarlets to slip up somewhere along the line and let us back in. That said, you can’t rely on hoping for others to mess up – you have to do something about it yourself.

And that starts with a big result against Edinburgh on Friday.

LOOKING FOR A LIFT

I hate being right.

Before the Champions’ Cup began, I boldly stated that both Ulster and Leinster would struggle in their respective pools, and lo and behold we sit here after week two (well, week one for Ulster) with both sides having not won a game yet. It’s not something I delight in, not at all, but it isn’t something I’m too surprised at.

In Ulster’s case a defeat to Saracens, who on current form are strong candidates to win the thing outright, is not something to be ashamed of, however the way in which they did so is something they will endeavour to change. Even though Saracens’ defence was superb, Ulster went through the same toothless attack formations that the “Wolfpack” repeatedly quelled with ease and it got them nowhere.

As a result, Saracens soaked up the “pressure” for most of the first half and then in the second they battered away at the tiring Ulster defence and eventually the cracks appeared. It was painstakingly brilliant and proves why they are one of the favourites to go all the way – they knew exactly how to defeat Les Kiss’ men and they played their game perfectly.

Leinster, for the second week in a row, were not Leinster.

It was better than the Wasps embarrassment, yes, but at the same time Leinster were unsettlingly poor for the amount of talent they have at their disposal, especially in the tight five. Their scrum was taken apart by Bath and given it was an all-Irish front row of Cian Healy, Sean Cronin and Mike Ross for Leinster, it is not exactly something Joe Schmidt will have enjoyed watching.

Being edged out by three points was the kicker for Leinster who looked to have saved at least a draw through Josh van der Flier’s try, but in the end they could not hold out Bath and the laser guided boot of George Ford. While there was a general consensus that they were thoroughly outplayed by Wasps, they were never out of contention at the Rec and probably did deserve some sort of result for holding on so well. That they didn’t will only hurt more.

Leo Cullen is finding out first hand just how difficult top level coaching can be, and while Leinster may not have the squad to win the Champions’ Cup outright you certainly would have expected them to be on at least five points after week two. Instead they return to domestic action with just one to their name and a points difference of -30.

It is rather fitting that the two sides meet this Friday.

Two sides united in their European disappointments will clash at the RDS Arena, nearly level on points in the PRO12, in an attempt to push themselves away from their opponents in the table as the push for the top four nears the halfway mark. It is strange to have an interpro at this stage of the season, but it is probably the perfect time for both Ulster and Leinster in that they know they cannot befall a European hangover lest they be hit with a double blow.

It is a chance to exonerate the demons of a week previous, especially for Ulster whose confidence will take a massive upturn with a win at the RDS, and as such there will probably be an abundance passion and pride on showcase in Dublin as not only do two sides go toe to toe in the league, but there will be a chance for several players to edge their way into Ireland reckoning with a good performance (Craig Gilroy and Rhys Ruddock are two that spring to mind).

Expect a bit more of an edge on Friday night. While both sides will look at it as just another league match with four points on offer, below the surface there is something more brewing in both camps and it is vital for both teams to emerge from the game victorious, both mentally and on the league table. While Leinster are more or less staring down the face of European elimination, Ulster are not yet and should they wish to reach the last eight then picking up a few wins will be vital.

Because sometimes rugby is more than just thirty men on a field.

LOST LEINSTER

Firstly, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Paris and of France as a whole. Friday night was a tragedy and the decision to call off Saturday’s game was the correct one.

The one French team playing away was Toulouse, and the decision to let their game against Saracens go ahead looked like a terrible call. Saracens were good on Saturday night we should not deny them that, but Toulouse looked like they wished they were anywhere else but on a rugby pitch and as such they were mercilessly pounded into the ground for the first 45 minutes. That they rallied in the second period and prevented Saracens from crossing a fourth time is a credit to their players.

Meanwhile, my predicted Leinster struggles came true.

I took no joy in watching the Dubliners self-implode on Sunday, eventually crashing to a 33-6 humiliation at home to Wasps. From Dave Kearney’s horror show in chasing back that box kick to Charles Piutau’s final try at the death, it was a terrible day for Leo Cullen’s men who were on the receiving end of their worst ever home defeat in Europe. Based on how they played they deserved it too.

It just was not the Leinster we are used to. In seasons gone by we would have seen Leinster get together as a team, brush off the concession of Wade’s try and come straight back at Wasps with some intent to bring the game back under control – it was the hallmark of Leinster under Joe Schmidt that they would find a way back no matter what.

But it never looked like that was the case on Sunday. Leinster looked off colour and devoid of ideas for the whole game, unable to work out how to get past the Wasps defence. Even when it was painfully obvious Wasps weren’t competing on the floor and they were instead just fanning out across the back line lying in wait Leinster still tried to go around them as opposed to going through the fringes and it cost them.

Where they were most lacking though was leadership. This is a point that has been made over and over again this week but it cannot be avoided – that Leinster side simply looked lost. There was a point during the game where a Wasps player was down injured and instead of anybody gathering the players together, the Leinster players stood individually in their own depressive state.

Where was captain Heaslip, the man expected to take over from O’Connell for the national team? Where was the usually passionate Sexton? Where was anybody stepping up to take control?

The lack of leadership just caps the number of problems Leinster had to be perfectly honest. They had the submissive scrum, the mental inability to work their way back from behind or to even get past the Wasps defence, they committed more errors, their defence let them down at crucial moments and, on top of all of that, Jonny Sexton wasn’t firing on all cylinders either and that hindered their attacking play considerably.

In the end it’s a game Leinster will want to forget in a hurry – Jamie Heaslip’s childish behaviour in the post-match press conference suggests they will be doing so as well – and it puts them firmly on the back foot in a pool that many believe they won’t progress from anyway. Having lost one home match, to reach the knock-outs it seems likely they need to win two away matches on top of their remaining home games. And based on how they played on Sunday can you see that happening?

Leinster have been in jams before, such as when they managed to wrestle the 2011 Heineken Cup Final back from the jaws of defeat in Cardiff, but this is a new Leinster and they look vulnerable. They are not as bad as Sunday made them out to be, far from it. That said, they have problems to address that they didn’t have in previous seasons and Leo Cullen has his work cut out for him.

As a final thought: if Leinster thought Sunday was bad, they’ll feel even worse when they remember they’ll be seeing Piutau on a regular basis next season. Based on how he has started his brief stint at Wasps, it looks even more foolish that the All Blacks did not have him in their World Cup squad – his nimble footwork and powerful upper body strength made a mockery out of the Leinster defence for the entire game, and in the end his man of the match performance was capped off with a try at the death.

He looks lethal, and an unbelievable signing for Ulster.

PROVINCIAL PROBLEMS

As we speed towards another season of European rugby, maybe a bit of a reality check is in order.

Take, for instance, the dominance of the French clubs. Do we really see that changing this year? As Ulster, Munster and Leinster attempt (more than likely in vain) to wrestle off the firm grasp the might of Mourad Boudjellal and Toulon have on the Champions’ Cup trophy, you can’t help but feel that it is simply a forlorn attempt fuelled by the laboured desire to simply appear semi-competitive in a wider spectrum.

The Irish sides will put up a fight no doubt. Ulster have a bone to pick with Saracens so our Round Two clash should be very tasty indeed, Leinster will not want to finish bottom of Pool Five even if it is one of the toughest pools in recent memory, while I do actually believe Munster will progress from their pool which is one of the easier this season.

But the grim reality is none of the provinces are going to be able to surmount a strong enough challenge at the lofty French perch on which they roost. Like proverbial vultures, Toulon and Clermont swoop down and pick off their opponents one by one until all that are left are each other and from there it is a battle to be the last remaining survivor – a battle which Toulon have won time and time again and are seemingly destined not to lose.

It is still startling to remember that Toulon only made their debut in the Heineken Cup/Champions’ Cup in 2010.

In their five seasons, they have won it three times.

You need no more than that fact to realise that money talks, and it sings like a siren of success. What other team could lose such inspirational leaders as Ali Williams and Bakkies Botha and simply replace them with equally influential leaders in Paul O’Connell and Ma’a Nonu? Not to mention the arrivals of the likes of Duane Vermeulen and Quade Cooper to the south coast of France as well.

That’s where the Irish provinces will probably fall short. With our NIQ quota, there is no way our home production can match what the French sides are recruiting on a yearly basis – that is in no way a condemnation of our Academy systems but it is a blunt realism. The chances of one province’s Academy churning out eleven top quality players to back up four top quality NIQs in one year is slim to none.

Nor is this a cry on my behalf to change the NIQ quota either. You see how the French national team is in disarray due to their lax attitude on foreign signings, and it would be nothing short of a disaster to see the Irish national side go the same way. Simply this is me openly admitting that Europe is beyond winning for us as a country.

Provincial pride and a bullish attitude will get you part of the way. But not all the way.

Is it even worth trying? Of course it is – the excitement and build-up of the Champions’ Cup at the beginning of the tournament sweeps up every club and no matter how big or small there is always the belief that this could be your year. I do feel that the Guinness PRO12 yields a much greater chance of winning silverware for all three provinces, but by the same token I would like to see Ulster give it their all. Or at least beat Saracens.

I have Toulon to win the thing again, and I imagine I am in the majority when I state that because in all honesty the only side who look like they make compete with them could be Clermont, and we all know how good they are at bottling it. Munster should get to the quarter-finals at least, Ulster stand a chance of making it too if we can sort out our wretched away form, but I can only foresee a Leinster exit in January.

Good luck Ulster, Munster and Leinster. Prove me wrong.

ON THE UP

This week’s post is a somewhat difficult one to write.

On one hand, I want to praise the attacking prowess of both Ulster and Munster and the part they played in what was an enthralling contest from start to finish – some of the tries that both sides conjured up would put the attacking-minded Super Rugby sides to shame and it was well worth the eight hour round trip. Even when Ulster fell 11 points behind to Simon Zebo’s try I found myself not really minding too much simply due to the quality of the rugby being produced.

At the same time, you cannot help but lament the defensive lapses from both sides. On Ulster’s side, Munster were making far too much ground on the left wing, through the driving maul and around the blindsides. For Munster, they too struggled with the driving maul and were unable to contain Stuart McCloskey, Darren Cave and Craig Gilroy. If it wasn’t for CJ Stander making three crucial turnovers inside the Munster 22 then the result could be very different.

I was surprised Stander was not Man of the Match because he was phenomenal yet again. What a prospect Munster have on their hands – a bruising ball carrying number eight who also does the breakdown work of a blindside flanker. He has been in sparkling form down in Limerick and if he continues in that vein then it would be a crime for Ireland to omit him when it comes to the Six Nations because he has been that good.

As for Ulster, even though it was a third away loss in a row, it is an improvement.

Against the Scarlets and Edinburgh by the final whistle you were just glad it hadn’t been any worse than it actually was. This time there was a sense of optimism that Ulster are heading in the right direction as we move towards the European fixtures against Oyonnax and Saracens and that we’re finally moving away from the ineffective kicking game towards a positive running style of rugby that suits our dangerous back three.

But on the face of it, it was still another defeat and that needs addressed. Although this was the game where we got closest to actually breaking our away duck, the results column still reads L and instead of picking up a potential five points, we have to make do with two. The why is a little less clear cut than previous weeks and as easy as it is to criticise the defence, it only glosses over the fact that our line-out struggled all night and in the early stages of the second half we failed to deal with Stander’s breakdown work.

Admittedly we will not come up against someone of Stander’s stature every week and now with Rory Best and Chris Henry back we should have a lot more of an impact at the breakdown (with no offence to Sean Reidy who has proven himself to be a very able stand in) so in that regard we should improve. I am expecting a certain amount of dominance in terms of quick ball against the Dragons this Sunday with those two on the pitch.

Speaking of the Dragons, they are a godsend in terms of games we could have before the European weekends. On the face of it, our form in Newport has been patchy at best and Rodney Parade is never a ground we travel to well, but you have to bear in mind the number of times we have actually been there with a full hand to choose from is very rare. Newport is a ground we frequent during international periods and as such we are usually far more affected than they are, and that more than often results in us being on the end of an embarrassing scoreline.

This Sunday, we have no such excuses.

Everyone is back and, barring injuries, we should have as strong a team as possible taking the field. Perhaps Best and Ruan Pienaar may start on the bench to manage their game time after a gruelling World Cup, but besides that we should be looking at as strong a team as possible on the field in preparation for Oyonnax. It is vital that we head over to France with an away win under our belts – it is not fantastic preparation if we still haven’t won away when we reach the Champions’ Cup.

Still, here’s to an improvement from previous weeks. Thomond Park is a bearpit on its best days (hint: last Friday wasn’t one of those days) and it still holds the demons of past Munster teams and can be a daunting experience. Ulster rose above that and performed admirably, they just didn’t have that extra gear over the line.

But there is now a confidence behind this team. And they will be out for that win this weekend.