These are testing times once more at Ulster as they bid to put the brakes on a four-game losing run in all competitions while Munster, hardly in a great place themselves, are coming their way for this first festive interpro on Friday.
Seasonal cheer is in somewhat short supply at the provinces with the current URC table hardly helping – Ulster sit 10th with Munster a place below them – and an injury list that seems to be weighing heavily on both regarding this weekend and moving forward.
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For Ulster, the situation appears more worrying in the wake of two heavy reverses in Europe – albeit to the powerful Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles – and prior to that concerning losses at home to Leinster and away at Cardiff which will have cranked up the pressure to steady the ship at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.
Richie Murphy’s side know they need to get back to winning ways, particularly with a trip to Connacht to come next week. Assistant coach Jimmy Duffy – from the western province himself – was keen to focus on the fact that Ulster will navigate a way through this recent run thanks to their desire and work rate, elements of which were seen up until they lost their way in the final quarter of last weekend’s 40-19 home defeat to Bordeaux.
[ Mixed fortunes for Irish provinces leaves plenty of room for improvementOpens in new window ]
“[There’s] no doom and gloom in the building,” insisted Duffy whose responsibility is the forwards. “We’d have liked to have four wins out of four but as long as we continue to work hard at what we’re doing, we believe we’ll put ourselves in a good place.”
Both Ulster and Munster have managed just three wins in seven rounds of league action, so that alone is likely to bring extra edge to this Friday’s encounter and Duffy has already seen a niggle of the positive variety creep into training.
“We’re trying to make these guys as good as they can be, and all the signs are pointing in the right direction,” he insisted.
“We’ve got to tighten up and be a little bit more accurate, we’re working hard and the lads care and there is a lot of niggle in training the last few weeks. Niggle in the right way – people want to get better and they want to win so it’ll come.
“We’re well clued in in terms of how good they [Munster] are but interpros will bring their own spark no matter what.”
Pointing out what Ulster have focused on this week he added: “Just accuracy at the back end [of the game] and staying in the fight. The boys fought really hard on the weekend, they were in a position to win the game after 62 to 63 minutes and a little bit inaccuracy [hit us] with three or four things thereafter.
“To go from the Toulouse performance [conceding 61 points] to be in a position to win the game on 63 minutes [against Bordeaux] was the encouraging thing.”
“We have a group that can bounce and perform, and that is what we are excited about.”
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