Ulster’s new desire shows a team that is not ready to be beaten
ULSTER have become masters of rescuing results from the jaws of defeat this season, and it’s a nightmare for those of us who already have their match reports written in the 79th minute.
In three of their first four games, Ulster have trailed when the clock hit the 80 minute mark, and yet somehow we reach the pre-Europe interpros with the province still unbeaten.
The question remains, however, how much of that is a positive and how much is a negative?
Of course it’s a good thing that Ulster are winning games, but leaving it so late leaves no room for error and causes plenty of nerves on the terraces.
The table would suggest plenty of positives — second after four matches will be a welcome sight to most fans — and it, at the very least, indicates a lot of progression from the doldrums of last season.
But where has that seemingly brand new never-say-die attitude come from?
“We refer to it as fight for every inch and it actually came from (the players),” head coach Dan McFarland said after the 3939 draw with the Cheetahs.
“Over the summer, Bryn was getting information back from them about culture, mapping out what was important to the fellas, and one thing that came back was a really competitive attitude.
“That married in perfectly with what I’m about — that’s me. We’ve framed that as fight for every inch, so when we look at the matches and analyse them, we look for the behaviours that demonstrate that and we celebrate those.
“In the Scarlets game, the Edinburgh game and now this game, we’ve had to come from behind on multiple occasions and we’ve done that.”
It’s a good trait for a team to have, of course. That mental belief that you’re never out of a game no matter what you’re up against is the kind of thing that has taken the All Blacks to the top of the world and Leinster to Heineken Cup glory with that incredible comeback in 2011.
For Ulster, there may not be quite as much at stake for them as those two, but consider this: had they not fought back in their opening three games then they’d be on eight points, not 15, and they’d be sixth in Conference B rather than second.
Suddenly things look a lot rosier now, right?
Winning is a habit, and Ulster are now unbeaten in nine stretching back to March of last year. Despite all the turbulence at the club last season and over the summer, this is a team who aren’t in the mood to be beaten.
Alright, so they didn’t win on Friday night, but they could so easily have been beaten had that drive and desire to keep going that has been sparked by winning not been there.
Instead, what we saw was an invigorated Ulster giving everything they could to finish on a high. The players were out on their feet but still they carried like trojans and soldiered on to the bitter end.
Nick Timoney and Jean Deysel both made lung-busting carries, Peter Nelson had the presence of mind to go for a gap to take Ulster close and Angus Kernohan again showed wisdom beyond his years by cutting inside to make the conversion easier and by fighting for that extra inch.
Henry Speight’s spin and score was fully deserved and Billy Burns’ exceptional conversion their just reward.
When you consider what we saw from Ulster last year, the turnaround has been monumental, and now that they have the trip to South Africa out of the way they will be much better for it.
Players speak volumes of what a tour away with team-mates can do for bonding, and that’s exactly what Ulster needed with such a young squad.
The likes of Eric O’Sullivan, Adam McBurney, O’Toole and the Anguses — Curtis and Kernohan — will have had valuable bonding time with their new team-mates, something that will stand Ulster in great stead going forward.
Kernohan singled out try scorer Speight as someone who has been helping him over the first few weeks of the season — two weeks with him won’t have done his development any harm.
Similarly, two weeks with Irish international Rob Herring can’t be bad for McBurney.
So, in many ways, it’s a good thing that Ulster got this trip so early in the season. What the young players will have learned can be taken forward for the rest of the year and that’s something that should excite fans.
Whether Ulster can maintain this form is debatable — eventually they’ll fall short one time in attempting another of their last-minute heroics and then the questions will start to be asked.
Still, as long as they stay in games that late they always have a chance, and that’s a lot more than what they were doing last season.
And, even better for Ulster fans, nobody in the squad is happy with what they’ve achieved.
“We’re still growing,” insisted McFarland. “I don’t think we’re close to being as good as we can be, so the pressure is to keep on them, on us, to keep getting better. I think we’re certainly making progress.”
Indeed they are. This team isn’t the finished article, nor are they particularly close. But there are good times ahead if this is what the future holds.
There will be games to come where things don’t go their way, and this young squad will be asked plenty of questions.
But that’s all part of the journey to where Ulster want to be.
For now, sit back and enjoy the ride.