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JOE BARAKAT:
“WE WANT OUR FANS TO GO AWAY SINGING”
Ulster’s new assistant coach will experience his first PRO12 game at Kingspan
Stadium tonight and he is focused on delivering for the fans...
“We just have to reward them, they spend a lot of money
to come and support us and not recognising that and
not rewarding them and not riding on the back of 18,000
giants would be very remissive of us. So I am really
looking forward to experiencing that and looking forward
to the rugby and the specific way we get to play against
Ospreys. We know we can beat them and beat them
well, and we want our fans to go away singing!”
Having arrived at Ulster in July, Joe has already
identified several individuals who have the potential to
stand out during the absence of World Cup players...
“We have got some fantastic footballers, we have great
locks in Franco, Dan, Pete Browne and Lewis, who is
coming back from injury, he has had a fantastic pre-
season. Our front row of Rob, Wiehahn and Andy have
done well and Willie Faloon who has come back to his
home province, has a real opportunity this weekend
to cement himself back into a strong position in the
team. This franchise is full of fantastic players and being
successful is just something we have all got to fight for.
“We have said all along, our first five games in this
competition are really important. We can’t wait for those
seven guys to come back from the World Cup before we
build any momentum. We have got to make sure that our
momentum is firmly built and they have got to catch us
on their way back. We cannot be waiting for them, and
that is our focus, for them to be on a fast train when they
come back in not on a train that is slow and struggling.
We want to be challenging their role in the squad when
they return from international duty.
Two defeats from two pre-season friendlies wasn’t
exactly the start that new assistant coach Joe Barakat
wanted to get off to, but he is keen to take the positives
from the warm up games...
“It has been slightly disappointing these past few
weeks,” says Barakat. “But we are lucky, we know
these pre-season games don’t give us points, they
are all about trying things that we have been planning
and putting them into practice. We are happy with the
opportunities that we have been creating. If you look at
last weekend for example, we had the ball for 16 minutes
and our opponents had the ball for eight minutes and
they won by 13 points. We know that we had so much
more ball possession and opportunities but we didn’t
finish off our green zone attack close to their line. We
are excited by what we are developing but horrendously
disappointed by the fact that we are not finishing. This
weekend we cannot except that developing plays is
good enough, we have got to get points on the board.
Against Edinburgh we had eight opportunities where
we could have taken shots on goal, they took their
shots because their focus was to win while our focus
was to make sure we were getting our plays right. So
yes, disappointing on the scoreboard but we are still
developing what we want to develop.
“This weekend we have got to finish what we start, get
into the green zone with relative ease in the opposition
22. It is not just about feeling comfortable and confident
doing that but lifting that to another level to make sure
we cross the try line. That is how we are going to gauge
ourselves against Ospreys.”
Explaining his dynamic and how he fits into the
coaching set up at Ulster, Joe describes his first two
months here as magnificent...
“I have a clear role which is collision zone, mainly
defence. I am working with two really good coaches in
Doaky (Neil) and Clarkey (Allan) and we share ideas.
It is a really good open environment and we have the
support of Niall (Malone) our analyst. It’s good that
we are open to learn from one another, we have our
specific areas but we are all willing to give our opinions
on other areas and how to improve, so far it has been
magnificent.
“My coaching style is based on determination, I am a
very determined person, I love winning and I hate losing.
There is nothing worse in life than losing, my wife hates it
because I annoy her so much when we lose. So I will try
my best to make sure that we are winning because that
makes my life happier.
“Rugby is my passion, I am so lucky to get paid to work
in my hobby every day of my life and I think that when
you lose the passion for this game no matter what you’re
earning or what country you are in, you may as well
give it up. I have always been really enthusiastic and
charismatic about what I do and who I am and what I
want to deliver and I think that has been really welcomed
here. For the players something different is always a little
bit exciting so I am just glad to be able to offer that little
bit of difference.”
JOE BARAKAT