Ulster Rugby vs Llanelli Scarlets

WHEN THE TOUGH GET GOING Ulster, top-of-the-table in the Guinness PRO12 after a busy, exhausting sequence of matches in league and in Europe.

physically he was clear what his targets could be, and equally he knew, given the studied guidance of the Ulster medical support team, just where he could and could not ‘push’. The old school of players would be astonished by the developments in sport science: no longer is it an ethereal non-practical aspect of how the modern professional club is structured. Coaches are highly-educated in the consequences of premature returns from injury, and of the possible, negative by-products of ‘hoping for the best’ when player take ‘knocks’ in games. The importance of physical contact in the game today is even reflected quite properly in the specialist functions delegated to coaches. This season the experienced Joe Barakat has brought his encyclopaedic knowledge of the ‘collision’ to the training ground. In the heat of competitive battle better skills are now evident in the positioning of the body in, say, a tackle situation, but these are complex and varied situations to cover, and a player’s best instincts are now allied to knowledge of the best possible options to adopt in executing and ‘taking’ the inevitable and increasingly powerful ‘hits’ which can have the watching spectator flinching. And for every Olding or Tommy Bowe, consigned to long, draining periods of disciplined inactivity and subsequent graduated returns to exercise, there are others in the Academy, from the ‘A’s and from the age-group and the clubs who are receiving expert treatment and very firm ‘return to play’ protocols. While concussions are so much in the news, and rightly concerning, by far the greater amount of time spent by the medics is devoted to real, often sophisticated injuries which, in another era, might have been career-ending. So it’s perhaps timely, while properly considering what has been a rather uninspiring and unspectacular few weeks in the PRO12 that there is ‘background’ too for a legion of players who would just love to be part of the action and contributing a lustre to the recent displays. There are other issues at work in Ulster’s less- than-spectacular performances of late, but they have been winning performances. The Six Nations inevitably causes disruption and familiar players

That sounds – and is – good news, but fans, players and management know that the ‘end game’ is approaching, and that in a congested queue for the top four, the quality and consistency of performances need to move to a level much higher than those which squeezed past the Dragons and Glasgow in the last fortnight. The Scarlets arrive at lunchtime today, and a point off the leaders, the Welsh will want to dine well and put an already unpredictable race for the play-offs into even more complex perspective. Munster have played twice since Ulster finally vanquished Glasgow, Connacht and Leinster – right in the rear mirror of Les Kiss’ side – will hope to have confirmed their places in the elite four, and there can be no doubt there’ll be a degree of pressure from the stands, terraces, the coaches to extend a winning run which has been solid but has not been entirely convincing. There have been ‘plusses’, palpable and more abstract: the resilience and character shown by individuals and by the team when confronted by sides which are increasingly well-drilled defensively, and in that most elusive of qualities, ‘finding a way’ when perhaps the most well-rehearsed and imaginative ploys have come up short. And, though so often repeated, the Ulster side has been refashioned in the last month to accommodate international calls, injuries and the all-important management of players who have been through the fire of a gruelling Champions Cup campaign and key PRO12 matches. There is constant scrutiny in training and in the all-seeing medical and Strength and Conditioning sessions of just what wear and tear a player’s body has taken and is able – with the longer term in view – to give with proper management. Rugby is a sport now so physically demanding that medical science plays a very real role in conversations about squad training, individual fitness regimes, and – ultimately – team selection. It’s stating the obvious that players returning from injury with a full bill of health is always good, refreshing news, and Stuart Olding is a high- profile example of how real care and attention to the detail of injury and to the process of ‘rehab’ is so important. And in those months when he was forced to go the ‘hard yards’ mentally and

ROD NAWN

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