Ulster Rugby vs Leicester Tigers

NEIL DOAK: DISAPPOINTED BUT DETERMINED Having qualified for the knock out stages of the European Cup for the past four years, Ulster Head Coach Neil Doak cannot hide his disappointment when discussing this season’s group stage exit. But he is determined to finish the season with silverware and has identified what the Province needs in order to compete for trophies in the long-term.

talent such as Hughes Insurance Academy graduates Stuart McCloskey and Michael Allen, the resources are the envy of most other teams. But there is a desire to add even more depth across all areas and Doak is keen to stress that the door is always open to older club players, in addition to those involved in the Academy structure. “We work closely with Kieran Campbell (acting Academy Manager) and the Academy staff and I’ve asked them to keep tabs on a few players who have caught the eye. You’ve got to keep pushing boundaries in search of talent, especially local talent with the restrictions that we’ve got. We have looked at a few late bloomers within the club game and exposed them to the Ravens games to see how they adapt to the next level up, and we’ll continue to do that. There’s the potential for them to come and train with us and potentially earn a professional contract. Ultimately it’s about Ulster players playing for Ulster. That’s what we want and that’s what the supporters want to see.” While Doak has assumed the title of Head Coach this season, his coaching input with the squad isn’t too far removed from previous years, as he continues to orchestrate the attack and devise specific game plans match by match. “Nothing’s really changed from that aspect. As a head coach there’s more of a focus on the off-field stuff. Obviously it’s about managing the players and coordinating the other coaches and management to ensure the programmes are running as smoothly as possible. There’s a lot that goes into trying to put a team together for a particular week and also forecasting down the line when players might need rested or will be on international duty.” He continued: “We’ve had to overplay a lot of players and that’s maybe had an effect on some of their performances because they’re not as fresh as we would like. Other players have had to take up the slack because of injuries and they’re being stretched. Maybe that’s another reason why boys have picked up injuries.” But Doak is maintaining a positive outlook for the remainder of the season, with his side placed just one bonus point win from the top of the PRO12 table. “We can give ourselves a really good chance of cementing a top four place during the Six Nations and then we’ll take stock post-Six Nations and hopefully have a strong run- in. We’ve got Connacht, Glasgow, Leinster and Munster at the tail end so we need a run of wins before those games.”

“We haven’t performed at the level we expect to and that’s the difficult part to take,” he said. “We should have won a couple of the earlier pool games but we struggled with poor discipline and inconsistent set pieces among other things. We’ve qualified for the knockout stages in the past few years but the new structure has made the competition ultra-competitive. We had a tough group but we should have made a better fist of it and we will have to improve be able to compete year on year. It’s a high profile competition that Ulster Rugby wants to be at the forefront of.” A high turnover of players in the off-season, coupled with the well-documented injury list, has made it difficult for the coaching staff to find any continuity from game to game. “A big part of the team’s success over the past few years have moved on and it takes time to grow players into those positions and gel everybody together. If they do their job and everyone blends well then more often than not we’ll win games. The most frustrating thing is that we’re doing things really well in training and at times during games, but it’s just not consistent enough,” reflects Doak. Squad depth is absolutely key to remaining consistently competitive across both competitions and with the provinces restricted to five non-Irish qualified players, Doak knows all too well that the emphasis is on the development of homegrown talent. He hopes that the significant investment in the Hughes Insurance Academy in recent years will deliver tangible rewards for the senior squad over the next few seasons. “If we can grow some local talent and combine that with some quality overseas players I don’t think we’ll be too far away from things,” says Doak. “Developing players is an ongoing process and I think we’ve done pretty well in terms of the numbers who’ve come through and been part of the Ireland set up, especially in the backs. There are certain areas where we’d like a bit more depth but it’s the same for every sports team in the world. We would hope there will be a few more forwards pushing through over the next couple of seasons and we’ve identified that as an area that we need to keep strengthening,” explained Doak. That process is already apparent with the inclusion of four Ulster forwards in the Ireland U20 squad for the upcoming Six Nations Championship. There is little doubt that an injury free Ulster side has an embarrassment of riches in the backline, many of whom Doak has developed over the past few years as Backs Coach. With nine Ireland internationals, South Africans Ruan Pienaar and Louis Ludik, as well as emerging

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