Ulster's recent recruitment drive may put pressure on the province, but they are well prepared for what's ahead, writes GERRY THORNLEY
SAVE FOR the Welsh, and especially the Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues, most teams have been fairly coy about their prospects for the new season.
Less so Ulster, with former legend turned operations manager David Humprheys labelling this squad the best that the province has assembled. Why not, given their summer recruitment drive?
Generously helped by the IRFU, by Celtic rugby standards in these hardened financial times, Ulster have been big spenders, and have given their squad a South African flavour with the close-season capture of three Springboks – Ruan Pienaar, Johann Muller and Pedrie Wannenburg.
Coupled with BJ Botha, this quartet boast a combined haul of 111 Test caps. Admittedly, like Pienaar, Botha is currently on duty with the Boks. But there will hopefully come a day when that quartet are harnessed with the cutting edge provided by Andrew Trimble, belatedly diagnosed with the legacy of a fractured finger from Ireland’s summer tour, and the injured Simon Danielli, as well as the rest of the squad.
And when that day comes, like many of us, assistant/forwards coach Jeremy Davidson struggles to see too many weaknesses.
Exciting times in Ravenhill.
Ruan Pienaar, in particular, looks a very classy signing, what with his 44 caps for the Springboks, his ability to play with real authority at either scrumhalf or outhalf, and his usefulness as a goalkicker.
“If we get him playing to the best of his ability behind that pack then hopefully he’ll be able to bring the backline along with him and help the 10s. They (Ian Humphreys and Niall O’Connor) are both quality footballers but playing with an experienced nine like Ruan Pienaar should trigger the whole team and help organise the way we’re going to play.”
Davidson and Co are also looking for similar levels of leadership from Muller, and as a 23-times capped Springbok who captained the Sharks (playing for them over 130 times) in 2008 and ’09, he has the proven leadership and 6ft-7in, 114kg-bulk to give Ulster the first experienced secondrow enforcer since the days and nights of Davidson himself and Paddy Johns.
“He’s brought tremendous leadership already,” says Davidson enthusiastically, and perhaps mindful of any feeling out there that this and other signings are stunting the development of indigenous talent, adds: “We’re actually quite lucky in that area in that we’ve got the likes of Caldwell, Tuohy and Barker, who has been outstanding in pre-season.
“However, Johann is helping those guys learn, so not only does it mean you have somebody in terms of leadership and organisation for lineouts, scrum, kick-off, but you’re also upping the skill levels of the locks we have, which is good for Ulster and Irish rugby. He’s such a leader, he doesn’t accept poor standards, he’s completely professional and a very, very good guy to boot.”
As for Wannenburg, Davidson says the 20-time capped flanker is exactly what they need in the backrow. “He’s another big, physical ball-carrier, he’s got tremendous talent and he give us strength in depth and enables us to play to the same style when Stephie Ferris is away on international duty.”
For all the law changes which have encouraged and facilitated teams to keep the ball through the phases and counter-attack, the depths of a Northern Hemisphere season don’t always allow for such fanciful notions, and Ravenhill is certainly no exception.
The recruits therefore seem designed to allow Ulster to play to all conditions. “This is what we’ve aimed to and this is what David Humphreys (now a more hands-on, quasi-director of rugby) has done particularly well, he’s really targeted our recruitment and done remarkably well.
“It’s been driven from the top down by Shane Logan, the new (and highly ambitious, former general manager of Harland and Wolff and of Coco-Cola in Russia) chief executive. There’s suddenly a ruthless edge coming in to Ulster rugby, in that we know where want to get to and where we have to get to.”
It may take time for a remodelled team to gel, but a challenge for the league play-offs and a Heineken Cup quarter-final for the first time in 11 years are realistic targets.
Although the Ulster lineout was at times excellent in poaching ball and in ensuring their own, Davidson has pinpointed the need for more consistency there and in most other areas.
“Really, as a pack of forwards, we’re demanding quality set-piece possession in order to kick-start our game from there.”
Though they were the second highest try scorers (39) in the league, only three teams conceded more than Ulster’s 35, and to that end, joining head coach Brian McLaughlin and backs coach Neil Doak, Jonathan Bell has been brought in as defensive coach.
“He’s brought a new-found enthusiasm. It’s fantastic having a different voice and the boys have already responded very well to him. Yet again that’s a work in progress, but it is one of the areas we’ve targeted as a coaching staff.”
The flip side of all this optimism, of course, is that it accentuates the pressure on the coaches as well as the players.
“Very much so,” says Davidson matter-of-factly, but he makes the point that they’re not exactly unique. “So whilst we’ve a stronger squad than last season, we have to continually improve. It may take a small bit of time for the team to hit its peak performance but we have to ensure that come the start of the Magners League and the start of the Heineken Cup, that we’re still progressing and getting better.”
Time to stand up, all right, and deliver.
