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AARON DUNDON
The surroundings of Kingspan Stadium are familiar
to the New Zealand born former hooker, who played
there on several occasions with former club Leinster,
where he racked up 49 appearances as well as an
impressive 10 tries.
“Previously I wouldn’t have spent much time up
here - I would’ve just been coming up for games
then back down to Dublin the same day so it’s nice
to get to see more of the Province. We’re living a
bit outside the city and we’re really enjoying it so
far. But most of all I’m enjoying being at Ulster, in
an environment that’s really thriving at the moment,
with a team that has a lot of aspirations to go
further.”
Dundon joined Ulster along with Head Coach Jono
Gibbes and Assistant Coach Dwayne Peel during
the off-season, and he feels the coaching ticket are
gelling well together.
“As Scrum Coach I’m obviously focused on the
scrum as well as working with the hookers on their
throwing, but I’m also enjoying chipping in with the
other coaches. I think we work really well together
as a coaching team. The experience the other boys
have, I’m learning loads from them and adding what
I can. We get on really well with each other, we have
a bit of craic together, but we knuckle down with
what we need to do.”
At just 35 years old, Dundon cut his teeth as
Forwards Coach with Dublin based club side
Clontarf, winning two All Ireland League titles,
before joining up with his fellow former Leinster
hooker Bernard Jackman at French Top 14 outfit FC
Grenoble.
“I learned loads in France, especially from the
scrum. You’re playing against world class front rows,
week in, week out. The refereeing is different over
there so you’ve got to come up with strategies to
stop the scrum and the opposition players so I feel
that’s really good experience that I’ve brought over
here.”
With that experience behind him, Dundon is enjoying
the new challenges at Ulster, and enhancing
his personal development alongside his new
colleagues.
“It’s great working with these guys and helping them
any way I can. I knew Les (Kiss) from when he was
in the Ireland setup then obviously I played under
Jono for a number of years in Leinster so I had a
good relationship with him there. This was the first
time that I’ve met Dwayne (Peel) but we’re all getting
along and it’s great. The experience they’ve had in
their careers, playing and coaching, it’s great to pick
their brains and we’re all helping each other push
forward.”
Having notched off three wins from the opening
three rounds of the PRO14, Dundon admits the team
are happy with the results, but also acknowledges
there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We’re happy with where we’re placed, but we’re not
getting too far ahead of ourselves. As a coaching
team it was good to measure ourselves against the
Scarlets after their success last year and their form
this season already, as we expect them to be there
or thereabouts again this year. I don’t think we’re
at the level they are yet, that’s where we’re aiming
to get to, but it’s good to see where we are. Three
wins is good but there’s still a lot to work on and the
players know that.”
Reflecting on the win over the Scarlets last Friday,
Dundon refered to the fifth anniversary of the death
of former Ulster player Nevin Spence, which fell
on the day of the game, and how this effected the
players’ performance.
“I think, for the day that was in it, we probably
would’ve beaten anyone that day. The emotion of
the occasion drove us on to the win rather than us
playing brilliantly. We know we can’t rely on that
every week so we need to keep working hard to
prepare for the challenges ahead.”
Dundon is keen that the improvements in
performance will continue tonight against the
Dragons, as he pits himself against a familiar face in
the opposition coaching box.
“I know the Dragons coach, Bernard Jackman,
quite well - he was the Director of Rugby for me
at Grenoble last season. They’re still learning the
system he’s wanting them to play, and you can see
some similarities to what he tried to play in France.
We need a good performance from the forwards,
better than we showed last week. We weren’t happy
with some of the opportunities we presented the
Scarlets last week, particularly some of the easy
outs from inside their 22. We need to keep growing
as a team and keep this momentum going.”
As one of three new faces to join the Ulster Rugby coaching team during the
summer, Scrum Coach Aaron Dundon is settling well into life in the Province.
DUNDON ENJOYING LATEST CHAPTER
OF FLEDGLING COACHING CAREER