LES KISS WAS grateful for a ‘brilliant piece of rugby’ that delivered Ulster their fifth win of the young Pro14 season, and the spoils in the first inter-pro of the campaign.
Though it was Charles Piutau’s sublime skill that created the try, it was just rewards for Stockdale after his electric pace and running angles made him stand out as Ulster’s most likely threat throughout.
“There are some things in his a game that we are trying to get on top of with him,” says Kiss, understandably trying to keep the 21-year-old’s feet on the ground.
“But the one thing he does is he backs himself. He’s got the uncanny ability to beat a tackler and accelerate through gaps.
“Tonight (to help create the try) you saw he used the deft pass and stayed alive again and read the play off Charles.
“It was a brilliant piece of rugby. Charles was so smart in how he played with the space… it was a pretty special try.”
The young wing made his international debut for Ireland during the summer, showing off that scorching pace to score in New Jersey as he won his first cap. After a breakthrough campaign last season, there is no sign of his progress slowing down.
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I think the way he’s handled himself has been brilliant. Last year he came onto the scene and we managed him – we just had to manage how he built into the next level of rugby and in the off-season he’s handled it well. He got the Irish jersey and came back in good nick and he performed well.”
Stockdale’s score brought some level of relief to Kingspan Stadium as the hosts pulled into the lead after getting mired in an error-strewn wrestle with their visitors. It needed a second half rallying cry to crank up the intent in their performance, though Kiss maintains they were expecting a fractured contest.
The key message at half-time: patience. If we play with the speed and be a little bit more clinical we knew we could stretch them a little bit.
“It’s never going to be easy to score straight away against them. You have to get possession-on-possession and ruck after ruck… I think we didn’t get beyond four phases at times in the first half. We thought that if we just trusted (our ability) we’d get through the phases we’d get a bit more out of the game.
Kiss added: “We expected a bit of mess in the game, a bit of stop-start. i think the way the scrum went and the way it was managed threw the players a bit.
“It was going to have to be a good strong arm wrestle and thankfully we came out on top.”
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'He's got the uncanny ability to beat a tackler': Kiss hails match-winner Stockdale
Sean Farrell reports from Kingspan Stadium
LES KISS WAS grateful for a ‘brilliant piece of rugby’ that delivered Ulster their fifth win of the young Pro14 season, and the spoils in the first inter-pro of the campaign.
Jacob Stockdale’s scintillating 57th minute finish was largely at odds with a scrappy 16 – 8 victory for the northern province over Connacht, and it will at least leave a lasting memory for the highlight reel.
Though it was Charles Piutau’s sublime skill that created the try, it was just rewards for Stockdale after his electric pace and running angles made him stand out as Ulster’s most likely threat throughout.
“There are some things in his a game that we are trying to get on top of with him,” says Kiss, understandably trying to keep the 21-year-old’s feet on the ground.
“But the one thing he does is he backs himself. He’s got the uncanny ability to beat a tackler and accelerate through gaps.
“Tonight (to help create the try) you saw he used the deft pass and stayed alive again and read the play off Charles.
“It was a brilliant piece of rugby. Charles was so smart in how he played with the space… it was a pretty special try.”
The young wing made his international debut for Ireland during the summer, showing off that scorching pace to score in New Jersey as he won his first cap. After a breakthrough campaign last season, there is no sign of his progress slowing down.
“I think the way he’s handled himself has been brilliant. Last year he came onto the scene and we managed him – we just had to manage how he built into the next level of rugby and in the off-season he’s handled it well. He got the Irish jersey and came back in good nick and he performed well.”
Stockdale’s score brought some level of relief to Kingspan Stadium as the hosts pulled into the lead after getting mired in an error-strewn wrestle with their visitors. It needed a second half rallying cry to crank up the intent in their performance, though Kiss maintains they were expecting a fractured contest.
“It’s never going to be easy to score straight away against them. You have to get possession-on-possession and ruck after ruck… I think we didn’t get beyond four phases at times in the first half. We thought that if we just trusted (our ability) we’d get through the phases we’d get a bit more out of the game.
Kiss added: “We expected a bit of mess in the game, a bit of stop-start. i think the way the scrum went and the way it was managed threw the players a bit.
“It was going to have to be a good strong arm wrestle and thankfully we came out on top.”
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