With injuries, lack of confidence and form, it’s all over for Ulster isn’t it? Actually, no, writes Ryan Cullen…
Since breaking their French Heineken Cup duck against Castres in January, Ulster has won just one of their next five fixtures, an easy home game against Pro 12 basement boys Zebre. This, of course, represents a huge downturn in form which threatens the region’s Pro12 playoff chances and their Heineken Cup prospects. But what is to blame?
A quick straw poll at Ravenhill would surely suggest that injuries have been the main reason for Ulster’s stumble. Injuries to players such as Johann Muller, Stephen Ferris, Tommy Bowe and Jared Payne would hinder any other side in Europe, save perhaps for a few of the French giants. However it is the sheer number of injuries that Ulster has suffered in key positions that has frustrated Ulster fans. Injuries to both Roger Wilson and Nick Williams, for instance, demonstrates that Ulster haven’t always had the rub of the green when it comes to player fitness.
That all of the injuries occurred whilst the Six Nations was taking place was again unfortunate. Losing talented youngsters like Luke Marshall, Iain Henderson and Paddy Jackson certainly wasn’t thought likely prior to the championship and has meant Ulster’s squad has been stretched to its limits, retaining players like Stuart Olding instead of releasing them to Irish underage squads on occasion. It has certainly been something of a perfect storm as far as that side of things have been concerned.
Yet it would be far too basic to suggest that injuries have been the only reason Ulster haven’t quite hit the heights of earlier in the season. Firstly we must consider the team’s confidence, or lack thereof. Whilst the defeat by Northampton in December appeared to be shaken off fairly quickly, the defeat by the Ospreys seems to have taken a greater toll. Whilst they defeated a terrible Zebre side after that, the defeat in Glasgow and the draw at home with Treviso told a tale of a side struggling to do the basics efficiently and simply struggling for conviction in their own decisions.
Victory away to Edinburgh, this season’s surprise strugglers would have been a boost then ahead of two of the most important weeks of Ulster’s season to date. With a trip to the RDS upcoming this weekend and then a trip to Twickenham to take on Aviva Premiership leaders Saracens the week after in the Heineken Cup QF, any victory against Edinburgh would have been greatly received. Despite the poor performance it is fair to say this was within Ulster’s grasp if Paddy Jackson had brought his kicking boots. Failure to get over the winning line when it was in sight once again certainly won’t boost anybody’s confidence for the weeks ahead.
Loss of form has also been an issue. Ruan Pienaar, everybody’s go to player as Ulster’s most important cog, hasn’t shown the same level of form he demonstrated in the previous 18 months. Tom Court was pulling up trees at the start of the season but has gone backwards in recent weeks. Players like Mike McComish, Paul Marshall and Ricky Andrew were probably playing slightly above themselves before Christmas. Youngsters like Michael Allen, Connor Joyce and Stuart Olding have come in and done some good things, but the bar for judging them is always going to be slightly lower than others.
Injuries, lack of confidence and loss of form, it’s all over isn’t it? Well actually, no. Despite recent struggles, Ulster has not become a bad team in just a few weeks. The return of a sizeable number of injured and international players for the game with Leinster should see them turn in a much improved performance. The extra experience and know-how they will bring should also have a big impact on the younger players in the squad. Ulster fans will certainly hope Anscombe releases some of the pressure building on Paddy Jackson by hand the kicking duties over to Ruan Pienaar. This should lead to a more reliable return from penalty and conversion attempts.
Of course, a trip to the RDS to take on an in-form Leinster side certainly wouldn’t be the fixture you would choose to try and arrest the current run but it also provides the team with something of a free shot too. Confidence isn’t just developed through victories, matching what is still one of the best teams in Europe closely will certainly boost morale ahead of the trip to London. Certainly a close defeat at the RDS would do as much for big game confidence as an easy home victory over one of the Pro12’s bottom clubs. Of course you risk the possibility of being routed but it is surely much better preparation for the game against Saracens than the latter.
Turning to that game at Twickenham, we also have to ask how good are Saracens? Do Ulster have anything to fear? Despite being on a terrific run lately, they don’t play a hugely expansive game and Ulster would certainly be disappointed if they were dominated up front when the majority of their front line squad comes back into the First XV. Having routed a fairly highly touted Northampton side earlier in the season, Ulster will know the levels of performance they can reach if they get things right. At their best they are certainly a match for a strong but limited Saracens team. That over 20,000 Ulstermen will likely be standing up in Twickenham on the 6th of April certainly can’t do the cause any harm either.
In rugby, as in any sport, it is very easy to let the doom and gloom of a bad run of form blur the facts of a situation. The facts for Ulster show they are quality side who have just been performing badly. Whilst this certainly isn’t how Mark Anscombe would have hoped to be entering this stage of the season, no damage has been done yet. A successful fortnight will give Ulster the chance to achieve all those goals that seemed tantalisingly close a few months ago. All is still to play for.
My name is Ryan Cullen and I am a 25 year old Ulster season ticket holder. I was introduced to the game around 15 years ago and have loved it ever since. I have an interest in pretty much all sports though so don’t be surprised to see a few football (Liverpool), Golfing and Racing interests (to name but a few) thrown in from time to time.
