Ulster Rugby vs Leicester Tigers

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19 ULSTERRUGBY
NEIL DOAK:
DISAPPOINTED BUT DETERMINED
“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
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.”
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.