Ulster Rugby vs Treviso

WOUNDED ULSTER’S HOME COMFORTS WHEN misfortune strikes in life very often the troubled, the frail, the doubting, seek solace in the places and people they know.

It’s not all that different in the arena of sport where individuals or teams often look for reassurance or encouragement in familiar surroundings in front of trusted supporters. As it is just the third round of games in the Guinness PRO12 it is rather fanciful to see Ulster as mortally stricken, but after the impressive opening win in Belfast against Ospreys a month ago the defeat a week later at Scarlets undoubtedly left scars. Time does help the healing process, but more effective by far is the ‘repair’ work done back in training and the lessons learned in analysis – personal and professional – of performance, attitude and aspiration. Head Coach Neil Doak will have pressed the ‘Reset’ button for this evening’s game at Kingspan Stadium against the doughty Italian visitors Treviso, and with another big crowd urging the men in white on the players will want to respond with a demonstration of their real character and ability. The squad travelled in genuinely confident mood after the refreshing stylish dismissal of the Ospreys challenge. Naturally some observers were swift to point to Ulster’s apparent aversion to playing away from home, but that is too glib and shallow an explanation for a display which was decidedly under par. The side had a few ‘tweaks’ from the one which fired its way to a bonus point start to the season, but it’s doubtful the players or management imagined the Scarlets would find the visitors quite so accommodating, and to return to Belfast without even a consolation losing point meant Doak, Allen Clarke, Joe Barakat and Niall Malone were bound to challenge the ‘real’ Ulster to emerge this evening. Doak would be the last to seek refuge in the indifferent and unpredictable application of the off-side law in Wales, but the Scarlets played right on and – too often – over ‘the edge’ in that regard, and coaches, players and fans do get frustrated with the perceived inconsistencies from match officials. “The trick is, of course, not to get into situations where we get punished, we know we have to accept the decisions but also find answers when we might believe we’re getting a raw deal,” says the Head Coach. “Every game you learn from, about players and about how some officials operate, and we move on with that information. But we gave away too many turnovers I any case, played well in many aspects, and we all felt a losing bonus point was the very least we deserved. “But we didn’t get anything out of it and for the last couple of weeks we have trained really well, as well as I can remember, and we’ve got our focus on getting

back on the winning trails against a Treviso side we know will be really tough to break down. The pack is a formidable one, and when they can call upon proven players like Kiwi flanker Dean Budd, the South African No. 8 Braam Steyn, and the English lock Tom Palmer they will give any team a test up front.” This Treviso side, colourfully coached by the former Italian scrum-half Umberto Casellato, has already shown its mettle by taking a bonus point in a thrilling 18-13 defeat in Munster, and Edinburgh needed a last- gasp penalty to take the spoils in another nail-biting encounter by 27-24. The Italian core to the team is fuelling the national side’s World Cup campaign and has been carefully and expensively supplemented by the addition of overseas players, and half-backs Chris Smylie and Sam Christie learned the game in New Zealand and are rated highly by the Ulster coaches. “Their Kiwi full-back Jayden Hayward is an excellent kicker, and we must be aware of his capacity to land his penalties and keep the scoreboard ticking over,” says Doak. “So, once again we have been addressing our discipline, we can’t give away sloppy penalties, and the other element we must bring to the game this evening and for the season is more accuracy. “Whether it’s in the set-piece or in the other phases we must be precise. Well-drilled, yes, but from that solid platform comes the opportunity for players to express themselves.” As the World Cup reaches the ‘business’ stage, the PRO12 season too comes to an important point: there will be six games for the sides before the tournament in England concludes, and the clubs have prepared to work with the resources they have and to create a real launchpad, find genuine momentum for the demands of league and Champions Cup which await in November and through the winter months. So this evening’s game against a club which has traditionally provided Ulster with a robust challenge is important. The visitors are nobody’s ‘whipping boys’, they proved that last month against Munster in its own backyard, and Alan Solomons can attest to the defiance his Edinburgh side only just managed to quell on a testing visit to the Stadio Monigo. Ulster and Treviso have contributed significantly to their respective nations for the World Cup, and both teams have also seen injuries cause some reimagining of selections, but neither Casellato nor Doak would look for excuses, they are both too experienced to expect other than they will use the squad fully and place confidence in the quality available.

ROD NAWN

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