FAMILIAR FEELING

And yet again an Ulster title charge comes unstuck at the RDS Arena.

It’s become an all-too familiar sight – an Ulster side going down to Dublin in forlorn hope only to be served a lesson in how to play knockout rugby by Leinster. You’d think that after the second or third attempt we would have gained some kind of knowledge or experience in how to at least be competitive in the RDS but last Friday was proof we have not.

The problem, one would surmise, is wholly mental. We saw three weeks ago that this Ulster side are more than capable of outplaying their southern rivals, especially with the superb back line that Ulster possess, and yet whenever it came down to the crucial game of the season they couldn’t perform. Leo Cullen’s men were the faster out of the blocks and, even though Ulster clawed back their initial lead, their start was the catalyst for their overall performance.

If their start to the first half was the catalyst, then their start to the second half was what sealed them the game. Having weathered an early Ulster storm that would have seen the visitors take the lead for the first time in the game, Leinster struck a hammer blow by scoring themselves through Jamie Heaslip – it’s those kind of scores that can turn a game on its head, and in this case it turned out to be a very important score.

For Ulster now, it’s back to the drawing board.

Such is a shame that after a long season the instant we have no more rugby left to play we move onto next season. It’s not a bad thing necessarily – all fans will naturally focus on the possibility of silverware this time next year instead of reflecting upon what went wrong this year. Still, it’s funny how the default reaction is to pretend this season didn’t happen and things will all improve come May 2017.

But as I say, the season is over and we have a couple of months now to regroup before returning for pre-season. Charles Piutau, Rodney Ah You, Kieran Treadwell and Brett Herron will all join up with the squad ready to get involved, while Marcell Coetzee will also arrive in Belfast to start his rehab from injury picked up on duty for the Sharks.

With such an influx on talent confidence will be high that, with no World Cup to distract us at the start of the season and a full pre-season with Les Kiss at the helm, this upcoming season will have a better conclusion than the one that has just passed. While not all of Ulster’s problems within the squad have been addressed by the incoming players, a like-for-like assessment of the current squad and the squad at this stage last year would reflect on how Bryn Cunningham has managed to strengthen this team.

This team, however, will go nowhere under the shadow of Leinster. That was their fifth knockout defeat to Leinster and it’s safe to say that they have our number when it comes down to the games that matter the most. Until Ulster can emerge out of the shadow of their provincial rivals they will continue to be considered the bridesmaids rather than the bride.

The time has come for them to stop taking lessons and pass the exam.

Les Kiss will reflect on this season as perhaps one that got away. He has openly admitted that his expectations were slightly lower given he didn’t take over full time until after the World Cup, but he will be able to sit down and look at games that really cost his side dearly – the games such as Munster and the Scarlets at home as well as Cardiff away, games that Ulster should have won and yet didn’t.

Was it a disappointing season? In some ways yes and in some ways no. At the start of the season you would have taken any kind of a top four finish, especially in a World Cup year. But certainly coming into the Six Nations you thought Ulster had an excellent chance of finishing in the top two of the PRO12 and they ended up in a below-par fourth. In the Champions’ Cup too, taking on Saracens was always going to be a bridge too far so to finish with four wins in that pool was a good outcome, but to not qualify off the back of that was disappointing.

Overall, it’s a season that had its highs (doubling Toulouse) and its lows and Kiss will see it as a good platform upon which to build going forward. Pat Lam did not succeed with Connacht in his first year, so similarly we have to give our man some time too. Next season we should see some more youth players being brought into the line-up as we continue to build our squad depth going forward.

And then we’ll be better prepared than ever before to go to the RDS and win.