Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TUNNEL VISION
Cave focused on games not contracts
BLINKERS are on Darren Cave’s Christmas list as he parks speculation on his career and prepares to mark a special milestone against Connacht in the Guinness Pro14. The 11-times capped Ireland centre, who is set to win his 200th Ulster cap at the Sportsgrounds on Saturday, has been one of the province’s lesser spotted stars in recent months. He has made just six appearances this season, while doubts hang over his future at the Kingspan Stadium with his contract expiring in the summer.
Talks on a new deal have yet to be held, leaving Cave with a tunnel vision mentality heading into the second half of the campaign. The 30-year-old said: “I’m out of contract at the end of the season and I’m unsure where I’ll be playing my rugby next season.
“For now I’m just trying to contribute as much as I can when given the opportunity so that’s my focus for this weekend and going forward.”
On targets for the remainder of the campaign, he added: “I hate using ‘one game first’ cliches, but that’s what it is.
“There’s no point me saying I want to start this or that game because the fact is, if I don’t play well this week, I won’t start next week.
“If I do well, I might play the week after and I want to make that decision hard for them.”
Cave, who made his
Ulster debut in 2007, branded reaching the
200-cap milestone
“cool”, but insisted:
“It’s not about me. I can worry about the accolades when I’m retired.
“I’m not getting too carried away. I haven’t played as much rugby as I would have wanted and I want to try and do my bit to help the team.
“It’s always hard playing one week and then not the next. Ideally, you’d like to play a few in a row. You have to contribute and hope you help the team. If you do that, you’ll play.”
Ulster, who face Connacht, Munster and Leinster in the next fortnight, travel to Galway after back-to-back wins over Harlequins in the European Champions Cup.
Cave said: “There have been two great results the last few weeks and there’s been a buzz around that. That’s why it’s important we keep that momentum going.
“It’s an incredibly tough place to go, but if we get our stuff right we know we can be tough to beat.” Ulster will be without Charles Piutau, left, (leg), Chris Henry (hamstring) and Rob Herring (concussion) for the Connacht game. They join an ever lengthening injury list that includes Rory Best, Jared Payne, Luke Marshall, Tommy Bowe, Marcell Coetzee and Jean Deysel.