So far, it hasn’t exactly been going to plan for both Ulster and marquee signing Steven Kitshoff with three straight defeats in the ledger since the double World Cup winner arrived in Belfast last month.
The latest of these reverses came at Bath last Saturday when the northern province’s European adventure opened with a heavy 37-14 defeat. With Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 heading to the Kingspan this weekend for round two of the Champions Cup, Dan McFarland’s squad are facing the distinct possibility of shipping what would be a hugely damaging fourth successive loss.
Ulster’s inaccuracy with the ball and frailty at set-piece time – their scrum has been anything but potent even with prop Kitshoff – have been alarmingly visible and need urgent repair particularly against the Top 14 leaders who lost narrowly to Harlequins in Paris on Sunday.
“Yeah, it’s been a bit of a wake-up call,” Kitshoff admitted as he now prepares for his fourth game for the province when he will likely be coming up against Springbok team-mates Siya Kolisi and Trevor Nyakane.
“[But] I also didn’t think I’d walk in and we’d just start winning, it doesn’t work like that, you’ve got to put in the hard work.”
Being critical of his own form, Kitshoff added: “I need to make sure I get my own stuff right before I expect to actually perform as I should.
“I haven’t been on par yet but, as I’ve said before, rugby is a weird game and you’ve got a nice seven-day turnaround and you’ve got another opportunity to play again. So for me it’s just making sure I get my ducks in a row and try and produce a massive performance against Racing.
“Just going out and expecting it to happen is not the right mentality,” the 31-year-old former Stormers and Bordeaux prop said.
“I truly believe we’ll get it right and fix it,” he said of Ulster’s shaky scrummaging, “and there are still a lot of games to play this season.”
In terms of the other areas in Ulster’s game which have been misfiring he stated: “It’s quite exciting to create opportunities and see them on a review on a Monday but it’s disheartening to not be able to put it through on a Saturday.
[ Iain Henderson says Ulster will review their scrum after unravelling against BathOpens in new window ]
“So, I think that’s probably the biggest work-on for us, and has been for the last couple of weeks, it’s trying to fix those errors, to be 100 per cent sure when you make a pass, running a line where if you receive the ball, are you going to catch the ball?
“It’s nailing those details, keeping creating those opportunities, eventually the momentum will turn in our favour.”
The importance of taking Racing’s scalp and ending the losing sequence certainly isn’t shied away from..
“Getting a result this weekend wouldn’t only boost us for the European Cup but also the URC. It will give us a massive mentality shift in a positive way, re-energise the group to take on the rest of the competition,” he said.
Outhalf Billy Burns is a doubt for the Racing clash after shipping an elbow injury at the Rec, though Will Addison is now back in full training following his concussion in the URC defeat to Edinburgh. However, flanker Dave McCann remains sidelined.
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