When, in your first season, you went 13 games unbeaten, topped a league, won a Heineken Cup Pool, developed a panel of 48 players, won in France, beat every Welsh region away from home, won in the RDS for the first time and narrowly lost a league final, what do you do differently in year two to improve? That is the question facing Mark Anscombe as he heads into the new campaign as Ulster Head Coach. His answer is simple - you don't need to change much:
'Firstly we as a group have to ...
When, in your first season, you went 13 games unbeaten, topped a league, won a Heineken Cup Pool, developed a panel of 48 players, won in France, beat every Welsh region away from home, won in the RDS for the first time and narrowly lost a league final, what do you do differently in year two to improve? That is the question facing Mark Anscombe as he heads into the new campaign as Ulster Head Coach. His answer is simple - you don't need to change much: 'Firstly we as a group have to acknowledge that we had a lot of success last year,' says Anscombe. 'I think sometimes that gets blown away because it wasn't the silverware that we talked about. We won the round robin - unfortunately we weren't in a position to play the game at home so we took it to the home of our biggest rival - so we should acknowledge that we did achieve certain things last year - that is important going forward because that gives us confidence that we know what we are about. It is certain that there were clear areas where we must improve and that is what we have been addressing in pre-season and the guys have been responding to that.'
Ask Anscombe about his highlights from last season and he doesn't mention games like that win over Castres, beating Munster at Ravenhill or the demolition of Northampton at Franklin's Gardens. Although they are undoubtedly fond memories for the Ulster Head Coach, when it comes to highlights, he would rather talk about the young players who began last season on the fringes of the senior squad, who he put his faith in, and who performed beyond all expectation. Players like Iain Henderson, Stuart Olding, Ricky Andrew and Peter Nelson -Â 'We have got to keep growing that depth in our squad', he says. ' There are many ways to measure success and the development of young players is one way of doing that,' he says.
Last month the Memorial End Stand and the Family Stand opened to fans for the first time. The team will run out from their new training base under the Family Stand for all of Ulster's home games this year. As part of the £14.7 million redevelopment, the squad will soon be given the keys to the new training facility with its meeting rooms, medical facilities and a state of the art, 7,000 square foot gym: 'I was as excited as everyone else to get along and to see the progress', says Anscombe. 'We have a great place. To be upgraded was overdue. It is just going to add to the environment and the whole occasion. We are really mindful of the fact that we need to perform at home. We really cherish our supporters- they mean a lot to us they get behind us through thick and thin. We really want to make Ravenhill even more special - we love playing there and we want to make it a place where opposition players hate coming to.'
Last week the Ulster squad had a meeting to set goals for the coming season. While those goals will remain amongst the players - Anscombe knows what he will judge success or failure by: 'The way we play', he lists. 'The consistency, the way we bring players through, the way the guys work as a group and the way we take responsibility for what we represent, how we perform and how collectively as a group we take on the challenges that are presented to us.'
Like last season, those challenges will be many, but with a year already under his belt, Anscombe is more equipped than ever to take them on.
When, in your first season, you went 13 games unbeaten, topped a league, won a Heineken Cup Pool, developed a panel of 48 players, won in France, beat every Welsh region away from home, won in the RDS for the first time and narrowly lost a league final, what do you do differently in year two to improve? That is the question facing Mark Anscombe as he heads into the new campaign as Ulster Head Coach. His answer is simple - you don't need to change much: 'Firstly we as a group have to acknowledge that we had a lot of success last year,' says Anscombe. 'I think sometimes that gets blown away because it wasn't the silverware that we talked about. We won the round robin - unfortunately we weren't in a position to play the game at home so we took it to the home of our biggest rival - so we should acknowledge that we did achieve certain things last year - that is important going forward because that gives us confidence that we know what we are about. It is certain that there were clear areas where we must improve and that is what we have been addressing in pre-season and the guys have been responding to that.'
Ask Anscombe about his highlights from last season and he doesn't mention games like that win over Castres, beating Munster at Ravenhill or the demolition of Northampton at Franklin's Gardens. Although they are undoubtedly fond memories for the Ulster Head Coach, when it comes to highlights, he would rather talk about the young players who began last season on the fringes of the senior squad, who he put his faith in, and who performed beyond all expectation. Players like Iain Henderson, Stuart Olding, Ricky Andrew and Peter Nelson -Â 'We have got to keep growing that depth in our squad', he says. ' There are many ways to measure success and the development of young players is one way of doing that,' he says.
Last month the Memorial End Stand and the Family Stand opened to fans for the first time. The team will run out from their new training base under the Family Stand for all of Ulster's home games this year. As part of the £14.7 million redevelopment, the squad will soon be given the keys to the new training facility with its meeting rooms, medical facilities and a state of the art, 7,000 square foot gym: 'I was as excited as everyone else to get along and to see the progress', says Anscombe. 'We have a great place. To be upgraded was overdue. It is just going to add to the environment and the whole occasion. We are really mindful of the fact that we need to perform at home. We really cherish our supporters- they mean a lot to us they get behind us through thick and thin. We really want to make Ravenhill even more special - we love playing there and we want to make it a place where opposition players hate coming to.'
Last week the Ulster squad had a meeting to set goals for the coming season. While those goals will remain amongst the players - Anscombe knows what he will judge success or failure by: 'The way we play', he lists. 'The consistency, the way we bring players through, the way the guys work as a group and the way we take responsibility for what we represent, how we perform and how collectively as a group we take on the challenges that are presented to us.'
Like last season, those challenges will be many, but with a year already under his belt, Anscombe is more equipped than ever to take them on.