For the ninth year in a row we had to sit through another Heineken Cup weekend without Ulster involvement but this one was a particularly poignant reminder about how our season has derailed over the last few months.
In January we humbled two of the quarterfinalists with outstanding displays against Munster and Harlequins and the team seemed to be on an upward curve with a top four finish being eagerly anticipated. Since then, however, only one win in five outings and things are shaping up for an end of season dogfight with Connacht to avoid bottom place in the Magners League.
It’s particularly disappointing that we’re in this position as in January we showed we had a team that can mix it with the big boys, and mix it pretty well at that, but since then all the momentum and all the confidence appears to have been lost. So where did it all go wrong? Poor team selection against Stade and the Ospreys, poor substitutions against the Dragons and a completely underwhelming display against Leinster indicates that after a year and a half Matt Williams is still struggling to come to terms with his squad and hasn’t quite put his finger on what exactly makes them tick. This coupled with the Six Nations break up and Matt having to return to Australia for family reasons led to a series of unrest that the squad appears to have difficulty coping with.
However it’s not the time to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but rather the time to develop some stability within the squad. The return of Stevie F should help and with him and Rory playing for Lions places hopefully the rest of the squad will raise their game and produce some performances worthy of the first Irish side to win the Heineken Cup, and more importantly, worthy of the team that played in January!
So, that’s the moaning over with! Wasn’t it great to see three Magners League teams win through to the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. Despite the hype and money surrounding the Guinness Premiership and the Top 14 it just goes to show that care and respect of the players with game management and appropriate resting can reap the appropriate rewards and allow the players to perform at the highest level. It’s a pity Harlequins didn’t have this level of respect for their players when they stooped to an all time low level of gamesman ship by taping up Evans and sending him back out against Leinster. It was nearly as equally distasteful watching Sky Sports backtrack their earlier assertion that Tom Williams injury was self inflicted. Bad form all round so a special well done to Leinster!
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