ULSTER’S David McCann believes a tough start to the season has left the team feeling ‘battle-hardened’ and ready to deal with whatever challenges that may lie ahead.
After losing a host of experienced players during the close season, a new-look Ulster side could not have asked for a tougher set of fixtures to start their URC campaign.
A clash with reigning champions Glasgow Warriors was followed by a two-week spell in South Africa, and after defeats to the Lions and Sharks, Richie Murphy’s men had little time to lick their wounds before facing Connacht in a bruising inter-pro.
“The champions at home; first game was tough. Away to South Africa, twice at altitude is tough, and then followed by an inter-pro.
“To get the win against Connacht at home and the five points was really vital to us, but I think we deserved it,” said McCann.
“So, I feel like we are battle-hardened now. A lot of people got game-time. A lot of people got experience, so I think it’s been a success in a lot of ways but I know we need to keep working these next two games.”
Ulster have two wins from two home outings so far this season, and this Friday, McCann will be hoping to help make it three from three when the Ospreys take to the Ravenhill turf. He is relishing another titanic battle with the Welsh region.
“The Ospreys are a good team so we are expecting them to come at us at set-piece, and at the breakdown, so we are just looking to make sure we control those areas and if we do that, we will be in a good place to get the win.”
In Ulster’s two home wins to date, both games have hung in the balance right down to the final plays.
While hoping that this Friday Ulster can notch up win number three in a less stressful fashion, McCann does praise his side’s ability to keep going to the final whistle.
“We’ve started well in those two home games and finished strongly. So, it’s just keeping the middle period and that going well and then hopefully we’ll not have to force results at the end of the game. But it’s encouraging to show that we can do it.”
Despite last week’s win, John Cooney has said that Ulster need to cut down on their mistakes if they are to be successful. These comments were felt by some to be a bit harsh, but McCann agrees with his scrum-half and says that Ulster must learn from mistakes made if they are to reduce their error count.
“No. I think that’s a fair point because if you keep making the same mistakes you’re not going to be playing for very long. If you make a mistake you are going to have to learn from it. But we are not going to chastise anyone for making mistakes if they are trying.”
