ULSTER HEAD COACH Mark Anscombe was philosophical after suffering just a second defeat in charge of the province.
The Kiwi had named a largely second-string team for the trip to face Munster and fell 24-10 with only a late Ali Birch try pushing them into double figures.
Still, Anscombe highlighted the positives that his young side could take away.
“These are the tough places to come and win. We’re still in there, we’re still in a healthy position in the table.” He told RTE television.
“We had a lot of young men get a lot of game-time today and they’ll be wiser and better for it.
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“Hopefully, it will count later in the year for us when we’ll need them again.”
Despite putting out a starting XV which resembled an Ulster ‘Ravens’ line-up, Ulster (though lacking in cutting edge) never looked overawed.
“We were confident we had a strong enough team to be competitive. When (there are conditions) like that we needed a few things to go our way. And apart from a couple of pockets of, say 5, 10 minutes in each half, I thought the boys battled away well.
“We didn’t look after ball in the contact areas very well and that didn’t allow us to build our opportunities and pressure. I thought at times Munster played some good rugby and they’ve got a formidable forward pack and they hurt us at different times in the game.”
Despite suffering a second loss in three week, Ulster remain Ireland’s form team going into 2013 and a pivotal month with another two Heineken Cup fixtures before the Six Nations.
‘Not pleased’
Ulster will be confident of sealing a place in the knock-out stages of the European Cup for the third consecutive year. But Anscombe will surely accept nothing less than a home quarter final at this stage.
Before meeting Glasgow and Castres in their quest for a home quarter final, however, Ulster will face another top of the table clash with Llanelli Scarlets.
Anscombe is aware that, no matter how good their record thus far, efforts will have to be redoubled if Ulster are to maintain a challenge on two fronts.
“We’re pleased where we’re at and what’s happening with the team. Obviously we’re not pleased with the result today because wherever we go we want to win. But we achieved other things for today.
“After 12 games, we’re still in a healthy situation in the competition so we’ll take that, but we’re not going to rest on it and we know we’ve got a lot of work to and we’ve got to stay on our toes if we’re going to maintain it.”
Anscombe backs young Ulstermen after Thomond defeat
ULSTER HEAD COACH Mark Anscombe was philosophical after suffering just a second defeat in charge of the province.
The Kiwi had named a largely second-string team for the trip to face Munster and fell 24-10 with only a late Ali Birch try pushing them into double figures.
Still, Anscombe highlighted the positives that his young side could take away.
“These are the tough places to come and win. We’re still in there, we’re still in a healthy position in the table.” He told RTE television.
“Hopefully, it will count later in the year for us when we’ll need them again.”
Despite putting out a starting XV which resembled an Ulster ‘Ravens’ line-up, Ulster (though lacking in cutting edge) never looked overawed.
“We were confident we had a strong enough team to be competitive. When (there are conditions) like that we needed a few things to go our way. And apart from a couple of pockets of, say 5, 10 minutes in each half, I thought the boys battled away well.
“We didn’t look after ball in the contact areas very well and that didn’t allow us to build our opportunities and pressure. I thought at times Munster played some good rugby and they’ve got a formidable forward pack and they hurt us at different times in the game.”
Despite suffering a second loss in three week, Ulster remain Ireland’s form team going into 2013 and a pivotal month with another two Heineken Cup fixtures before the Six Nations.
‘Not pleased’
Ulster will be confident of sealing a place in the knock-out stages of the European Cup for the third consecutive year. But Anscombe will surely accept nothing less than a home quarter final at this stage.
Before meeting Glasgow and Castres in their quest for a home quarter final, however, Ulster will face another top of the table clash with Llanelli Scarlets.
Anscombe is aware that, no matter how good their record thus far, efforts will have to be redoubled if Ulster are to maintain a challenge on two fronts.
“After 12 games, we’re still in a healthy situation in the competition so we’ll take that, but we’re not going to rest on it and we know we’ve got a lot of work to and we’ve got to stay on our toes if we’re going to maintain it.”
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As it happened: Munster v Ulster, RaboDirect Pro12
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