Ulster Rugby v Connacht

LUKE MARSHALL: ‘COMPETITION BREEDS SUCCESS’

A familiar face on the Ulster team sheet, Luke has racked up 106 appearances for Ulster as well as 11 caps for Ireland. Luke joined Ireland’s summer tour to America and Japan where he played two games but, having since returned, his focus is firmly on his role with Ulster.

“The summer tour with Ireland was great and it was fantastic to play two games. Japan and the USA are places I’d never been to before so it was exciting to have the opportunity to visit them, and to have the chance to play rugby there for Ireland was even better. It was a good experience all round. “Any chance you get to play for your country is a great privilege. But I’m back with Ulster now and while I would love the opportunity to play for Ireland again, my focus is on Ulster. I hope to keep pushing on and improving to add as much to the team as possible. Competition for places on the starting team is tough but as they say: competition breeds success. You have to be on top of your game in order to get a role. We go week-to-week unsure if we’ll be selected or not, which can be a bit stressful but it’s good encouragement and I’m really enjoying it at the minute.” Much has been said of the new coaching structure at Ulster with its increased emphasis on the involvement of the whole squad rather than the match day 23. With 4 wins out of 5 in the Guinness PRO14 one could argue that the new format and refreshed focus is effective but there remains work to be done in order to maintain that winning streak. “The season has went well so far. It was a bit of a gradual build, with a good win against the Cheetahs, we dipped a bit against Treviso but put in a strong performance against the Scarlets and got a really good win against the Dragons. Obviously we were really disappointed with our result against Zebre but that is last week’s news. We know what went wrong and we know what we need to do to avoid that happening again so we’re focusing on the positives and I think we’ve done really well so far. “It’s been great working with the new coaching structure. The coaches seem to be working well

together as a team and there is a good balance between them, which the guys are all reacting well to. As a team, we’ve become a bit more physical in our ball carrying and in the breakdown and we’re trying to be a bit more strategic, bringing the scrum and maul into play a bit more. Everything the new coaches have tried to install within the squad is really starting to come to fruition and there is a lot of confidence among the team.” October heralds the opening of the European Rugby Champions Cup. With ties against Wasps and La Rochelle, neatly sandwiched between two inter-provincial contests against Connacht and Leinster it is sure to be a challenging month for the Ulster team, but one which Luke is confident they are ready for. “We have a tough run of matches lined up for October, but hopefully we’ll deliver more of the same winning performances, playing physical up front but with a lot of width as well and attacking from all areas of the pitch. “Connacht are always difficult opponents and we are wary of what they can produce. Wasps will be a challenge. They were one of the form teams in Europe over the last two years and have been quite unlucky not to have gained any silverware as they’ve been playing some good rugby. La Rochelle are also a strong threat. They were brilliant last year and have continued to do really well this year. “We know that we are going to face some difficult challenges both in the Champions Cup and in the PRO14. Obviously, we’d like to bring home the two wins in the ERCC and continue to deliver the same in the PRO14. If we continue the way we have been doing, if we keep improving and hang onto that confidence I think we will get there.” Aside from the professional game, Luke has been steadily building up his coaching experience

LUKE MARHSALL

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