Ulster Rugby vs Zebre

For Ulster it’s the Italian job this evening, Zebre the visitors, many assuming a comfortable win in prospect – and a timely boost to home morale. THE ONLY WAY MUST BE UP!

But this is a club which has just recently thumped Edinburgh, one of those to which Ulster all-too-easily succumbed, and the Cardiff Blues heaved a huge sigh of relief when escaping with a two-point victory. No longer can the visitors be considered potential lambs for inevitable slaughter. as with Treviso, Zebre is now a hugely competitive if not fully-furnished PRO12 outfit. For Ulster, though, there is the opportunity to enter a possibly season-defining window with the boost of a win, preferably achieved with real conviction, and that might just herald a much-needed change in fortunes for the players, their management and the persistently large support at Kingspan Stadium each matchday. It would be naïve to deny that through the home crowd of late, and in the wider Ulster rugby community, there isn’t a concern about recent results and performances. A season which started with such great expectations, shared by supporters, players and staff, has over the last two months stuttered and disappointed. The early signs were good: five Guinness PRO12 wins in a row put the side top of the table, and if some of the quality on show in those victories was uneven there was a belief that as the selections became more settled the undoubted calibre of the players would be more consistently on view. The recruitment of marquee signings Charles Piutau and Marcell Coetzee added to the sense of anticipation that, after being in contention and stalling at the final hurdles in the last few years, the 2016/17 campaigns in the league and in Europe could produce the silverware which is so craved. The All Black has proved his astonishing range of footballing skills in a variety of positions, but he hasn’t always had the opportunity to influence matches further given the team’s uneven, and sometimes not entirely convincing outings. Coetzee is fast returning to fitness after a serious injury picked up in South Africa before arriving in Belfast and his ball-carrying and fierce power at the breakdown will hopefully soon effect a real electricity in the forward unit. But to focus on two undoubtedly superb recruits would be facile, because the squad assembled so carefully and shrewdly is brimming with talent, proven internationals and youngsters with skills and enthusiasm to justify long-term aspirations. Rob Lyttle, Jacob Stockdale and Brett Herron have taken their chances when injuries and unavailability afforded Les Kiss and Head Coach Neil Doak the chance to drill into the deep Kingspan player pool.

Chris Henry, the most intelligent of flankers, has been much-missed in key areas and he too is returning to full health, while the in-form Louis Ludik is also available, and Tommy Bowe is showing real signs that he’s rediscovering the match winning instinct which had seen him restored to the Ireland side after two seasons disrupted by serious injury. Dan Tuohy too is back in action, the experienced international lock’s determination to reinforce Kiss’ options in that department marked by his recent outings with the Barbarians, that most exclusive of invitational sides which honoured him with the captaincy in the Czech Republic two weeks ago. Iain Henderson’s shoulder problems appear to have been resolved with patient, expert medical attention with Ulster, and what a purposeful impact his regular appearance in the white shirt could make to the team as it approaches the New Year. And with Jared Payne so clearly back to his best after a lay-off, there are more genuine reasons to be optimistic about the few critical months which lie ahead. There are other casualties longing to join the squad again, and injuries have undoubtedly affected the consistency in selection which Kiss and his coaching team would have probably preferred. The multiple changes – rather than the planned, thoughtful rotation they would have hoped for – has seemed to undermine strategies and ‘plays’, errors born of unfamiliarity perhaps have been all-too-prevalent. There have been glimpses, and more, of the unquestioned class in the club’s various divisions at times, but that has added to the fans’ frustration and though the support around the Kingspan has been resolute throughout each game there is a palpable sense that potential is not being realised fully, either collectively or individually. Four defeats in the last five games, the only success a knuckle-whitening success thanks to Paddy Jackson’s drop goal in the Champions Cup against Exeter Chiefs, does excite concern, and Les Kiss will be aware of that. And despite his refusal ever to make excuses of injury lists and international demands he’ll have been seeking answers on the training pitch and in analysis sessions to why combinations of fine players all over the side have not always gelled. In the PRO12, where most supporters’ hopes were invested, successive defeats in Connacht, at home to a resurgent Munster, and then rather shockingly at Murrayfield to an Edinburgh in something like disarray on and off the pitch. Two losing bonus points secured in the Inter-Pro clashes may well prove important in May, but just now they seem poor consolation, a meagre return from games which

ROD NAWN

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