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But at the end of an emotional Friday evening there
was no mistaking the positive mood and the sense
of a faith restored as reigning champions Scarlets
were beaten in a thrilling, confident and even
swashbuckling finale.
With players rising to the challenge of sweeping the
doubters aside a famous 27-20 win, achieved with
a character which some might have suspected
had been permanently bruised, and with the
crowd rediscovering its authentic voice this was
an evening which somehow aptly crowned an
occasion when the memory of the lionheart which
was Nevin Spence was so splendidly celebrated.
It’s early in the campaign in the new and rather
sophisticated Guinness PRO14, but Ulster sits
snugly behind Leinster at the top of Conference
B, and naturally there is just a sneaking hope that
this might be the year when solid reward will find
its way to Kingspan. The defeat of Scarlets was
a real stepping-stone for the squad Director of
Rugby Les Kiss has assembled: it confirmed that
the potential of some players was alive and well,
not dormant and awaiting an elusive, long-awaited
spark.
But what contributed so much to last weekend’s
drama was the clear intent to take the game to
opponents, to take no resort in the absence of
some big ‘names’ who are yet to be regularly
available and those who are making their way
back from injury. What Head Coach Jono Gibbes
will have found reassuring, as he assesses the
depth and quality of his resources, is that Ulster-
bred products such as Kyle McCall, Matty Rea
and John Andrew are not just capable reserves:
with many others they have the ambition and
talent to be genuinely in selection contention for
competition in the PRO14 and in Europe.
Yes, Marcell Coetzee, Jean Deysel and Charles
Piuatu are wondrous players and it would be
naïve to think that with their pedigrees and very
particular skillsets they, like Craig Gilroy, Darren
Cave and more, won’t figure early and prominently
each week. But form, injuries and getting those
fabled combinations right will dictate – just like the
protocols sent down from the international set-up
– that the ‘local heroes’ will feature more and more,
and on merit.
But this week brings a new and different set of
challenges. First, the most recent form and spirit
must be maintained and developed because the
PRO14 is a marathon with few chances to catch
a breath or to take the foot off the improvement
accelerator. To do that is not easy as the euphoria
which comes from a win where so many virtues
were on display has to be channelled into a
more practical and consistent vein of hard work,
discipline and cementing confidence.
Second, the Scarlets are current league
champions, the quality of the side confirmed by
a late-season run last year which caught rivals
off-guard to an extent. This evening the opposition
is again from Wales but the Dragons – for finally
and legally that is the club’s name from this
season! – pose different questions, have their own
reshaped ambitions to fulfil, and we know from
past experiences that if Ulster sometimes wants to
free-wheel to success that can be undone by the
sheer cussedness of the Rodney Parade team.
Unquestionably the visitors cannot call on the
resources they face tonight, but while they have
been notably unsuccessful in league and in Europe
since the inaugural Celtic League campaign they
have a painful habit of spiking the hopes of better-
equipped but less patient opponents.
This is a new Dragons set-up in more than just
name. Bernard Jackman, the former Ireland
hooker, has been installed as Head Coach, his
time at Grenoble in the Top 14 judged overall as
a success. He took the post with the very public
backing of his old Connacht mentor, Warren
Gatland, the most powerful influence in the Welsh
Rugby Union’s purchase of the club this summer.
And Jackman, as hard-as-nails a competitor that
there’s been in rugby, arrives at Kingspan with
a team fresh from its opening win of the PRO14
season, the defeat of Connacht last weekend
featuring the characteristics its coach would have
demanded: organisation, cohesion, power up front
and a gritty resolve for a full 80 minutes.
From such solid foundations the players will be
determined to expand their game, and though
perhaps lacking in star-laden names there are
some eye-catching individuals who will certainly
have been given some extra attention by the Ulster
Last week the Kingspan faithful gathered, as always in hope, but rather less
in expectation given the previous unconvincing outing in Treviso.
FANS CAN ROAR DOWN DRAGONS’ FIRE
ROD NAWN