ULSTER ASSISTANT COACH Dan Soper insists that Saturday’s URC quarter-final clash with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium is no ‘free hit’ for the northern province.
Despite being clear underdogs against a Leinster squad under pressure to secure silverware from this season after failing to get the better of Toulouse in the European Champions Cup final, Soper feels that Ulster can and will produce a performance of substance come the weekend.
“Ultimately, we’re in a knockout game to win,” he said.
“Is it a free hit? I’m not sure if that comment implies that we’re going to go down and be careless and that it doesn’t matter.
“It really does matter, and we will have a plan to win the game,” he stated.
If they do pull off a shock outcome, it might have to be without some if not all of Stuart McCloskey (groin), Ethan McIlroy (back), Kieran Treadwell (calf) and Alan O’Connor (head), the latter two the only ones who were able to begin last weekend’s interprovincial defeat at Thomond Park.
Coming off the defeat to Munster – which halted a four-game winning run for Richie Murphy’s squad but bagged a losing bonus point to secure sixth in the URC table – the northern province have maintained that their confidence has been boosted from a still robust display against a close to full strength opposition.
“The guys have a real fight about them at the moment and they’re willing to get in behind each other on the pitch. That’s hugely important.
“Why that drained out of us, I don’t know,” said Soper of Ulster’s indifferent form earlier this season which resulted in Dan McFarland’s departure in what has been, generally, a turbulent year at the Kingspan Stadium.
“The players have really stepped up and taken ownership in the last few months. Richie’s given them a lot of space to be able to do that.
“Ultimately that’s what you want. You want a team that has that ownership and togetherness and we’re starting to head in that direction.
“We’ll need all that togetherness at the weekend.”
Though Ulster’s knockout record against Leinster is dire, they will also want to expunge the memory of last season when crashing and burning at home to Connacht at this same stage of the URC knockouts.
“You don’t want to put yourself in positions like last year,” said Soper, “where we worked so hard to be in a play-off, we just weren’t good enough on the day, and then you have to live with that.”
Lock is going to be a problem with 3 senior locks out. Guess it will be Izzy and Sheridan from the acamady at lock with Matty Rea covering on bench. Between the 3 of them, thats less than a total of 20 starts at lock.
Interesting the players seem to have suddenly grown a spine… Shame it took so long
This time last year Connacht beat Ulster and that was probably on merit.
Murphy has done a very good job so far and Ulster must be positive about next season.
Other side, Connacht took a lot of IRFU coaching recommendations which are failing to produce so far.
Just shows how it can work out…
@Jack Dermody: Murphy has done a good job, and its great to see the backs involved more, but it has to be remembered that Ulster finished 2nd last year, and had already beaten Leinster and Racing 92 this year, he wasn’t taken over a poor team. He’s taken a good team and got them back to hopefully 2021 level, and hopefully can push on. Connacht look like they need an additionnor change in coaching even an experienced DoR to come in, though if league was fair they would have made the playoffs.