Driven to lead from the front

Andy Ward interview: It would kill Andy Ward not to be leading Ulster out in their Heineken European Cup opener tomorrow night, all the more so in their perceived hour of need.

As much as any proud wearer of the Red Hand, even David Humphreys, the long-since naturalised Kiwi is somehow synonymous with Ulster's European odysseys, and especially on Friday nights at Ravenhill.

Ward is one of the few surviving playing links with the 1999 triumph, but whereas then he was a foot soldier, under Alan Solomons he became more than just the Ulster captain. Ward became their heartbeat and rarely can a coach have been more effusive in describing how a captain led from the front, on the pitch, in the dressing-room, on the training ground, in word and in deed. The scaling of the ranks is something he says he has thrived on.

"What Solly did for me was fantastic as an individual. It gave me a lot of confidence in myself to lead the team. I enjoy the role, and I probably play better when I'm in amongst the mix.

"If I'm perhaps not doing the right thing at the right time I just think of my responsibilities and it strengthens me mentally. You say to yourself you must lead from the front, you can't sit back and watch the boys do it. That's not a leadership role."

Even though he's a good healer, he faces a fitness test on the torn tendon in his arm today in an unlikely race against time. They could do with his sheer presence now.

Three defeats in succession at Ravenhill, one more than in Solomons's entire tenure, hasn't happened since the pointless pool exercise of 2000. Looking in from the outside, it smacks of a crisis, though listening to Ward it doesn't.

Lapses in concentration for 10 or 15 minutes, usually when winning, he attributes to the team's growing pains. In part this is down to the summer exodus not just of an experienced coach but also of some grizzled old warriors up front.

"The average age of the team has dropped massively," agrees Ward, "and it was always going to take a bit of time to get that sort of hard edge. The guys are getting more experience every time they pull on a shirt, which is great for Ulster in the future. But we've got enough experience there, especially with the addition of Kevin Maggs, to speak up at the right time. Small creases just need ironing out."

As worrying has been the failure to do the basics, a trademark of the last year or two, and a sudden porousness in defence - hence the signing of rugby league coach Neil Kelly.

"These are all very, very small things that just need to be tweaked a wee bit. In my mind I think it's the top six inches, I really do. I think it's mental, it's about patience, and if we get that balance right we can get back to where we were."

That comes with leadership also, of course, which is where they could do with Ward, given most of the other experienced campaigners are backs. You only have to hear the hum of expectancy when Ward gets his mits on the ball, or the response to one of his turnover tackles or big plays with the ball, to appreciate his special rapport with the Ravenhill crowd.

"It's nice to hear that support and it is a lift, there's no doubt about it. I feed off it and the crowd feed off it. It's a two-way street."

Ward's influence remained as pronounced as ever last season but, having turned 34 last month, he knows these are the twilight years of his playing days.

His current contract expires in June, but as things stand he'd "like to go again. I'm enjoying my rugby but I don't want to be seen as one of those players who used to be good 'but now look at him'. I feel like I'm 25 mentally and physically, and I'm enjoying it still."

He still believes a top-four or five-finish in the Celtic League is "very do-able" but getting to the knock-out stages in Europe for the first time in five years is the burning desire.

"In the last three years we've come close but no cigar. If we could get out of the pool stages it would be a bonus. Especially for the young guys, they need that lift."