Ulster Assistant Coach, renowned for his realism and forensic attention to detail, couldn't quite hide the buzz in the squad as they prepare for tomorrow's lunchtime Champions Cup clash in Oyonnax.
The man whose specialist role is to organise the forward unit insists that preparations and training do follow the usual patterns, with reviews and analysis pointing to areas where improvements can be made and new ideas introduced.
“What we do in training each week, what we review and what we plan for each opponent, can appear to be have a monotony, albeit a fantastic one, because the game of rugby doesn’t change that much week-to-week.
“But the focus of the tournament, the freshness of going away to France, the excitement of that European expansion of rugby really adds to the player group,” says Clarke, a European Cup-winner with his native Ulster in 1999.
He has a huge respect for Oyonnax despite its relatively recent arrival at European rugby’s top table, and says that Ulster has to be at its most alert, and in the right, focused mindset.
“Oyonnax is very much in the mould of the typical Top 14 side in that they have a huge pack which will take you on up front. They’re a team which from our analysis will compete in every aspect of play, scrum, lineout, the breakdown, they’ll run the ball from deep and they can pound you from close in.
“They’ve got an all-round game, and though they may not be deemed to be in the same class as the Stades and the Toulouses we should remember they did a number on Stade Francais a couple of weeks ago, and beat them well. So we have to be really focused on our own detail, be organised, and when the opportunities present themselves we need to ensure we look after the ball and convert possession and position into points.”
And Clarke was convinced that games such as Sunday’s fuelled the players, and particularly in a town like Oyonnax where rugby is such a part of the culture.
“We’re going back again for the postponed fixture, and we have got that experience of the area, of the stadium.
The diaspora’s quite wide, and rugby brings the whole community together, and we got a real welcome in November but we’ve been around long enough to realise that that welcome lasts only up to kick-off, and then it’s going to be quite ferocious thereafter!”
Within the context of Europe Clarke says Ulster try to improve its game all the time, you have that week-to-week, monthly and longer-term planning. The danger is that if you try to change too quickly, too early, confusion can creep in.
“In that regard the focus at this moment is very much on Oyonnax, but all the time you’re trying to progress your game, the players’ individual skills, look at unit aspects of play from last weekend.
“What’s adding to the enthusiasm of the whole squad is that the players who’ve stepped up recently maybe have bolted down a starting place for the moment. There’s frustration for some players if that there is only room for 23 on matchday, but one of our strengths is that everyone’s looking towards performances,” says Clarke.
And he’s not expecting the Ulster side to go hell-for-leather for a bonus point win, earning the right to a victory is the priority.
“It’s going to be a quick game on 3G surface, our focus is to build a performance. We’ve got to build that pressure, be good about our business, good when we don’t have the ball. And when we do, play in the right areas of the park, and make the right decisions - whether to be direct or to go around,” he says.
This intense student of the game insists, though, that rugby is still – as it always has been – a simple game, and it’s clear that he and the coaching team will ask that it is the basics that are done well, to provide the platform to build patterns and to get in positions to display the full armoury of skills in the Ulster side.
He respects the opposition, but he clearly believes the work that the management and players are doing should demonstrate a superior level of ability all over the pitch, but with Allen Clarke in the dressing room there’ll be a strong message: no complacency, just back yourselves.
The man whose specialist role is to organise the forward unit insists that preparations and training do follow the usual patterns, with reviews and analysis pointing to areas where improvements can be made and new ideas introduced.
“What we do in training each week, what we review and what we plan for each opponent, can appear to be have a monotony, albeit a fantastic one, because the game of rugby doesn’t change that much week-to-week.
“But the focus of the tournament, the freshness of going away to France, the excitement of that European expansion of rugby really adds to the player group,” says Clarke, a European Cup-winner with his native Ulster in 1999.
He has a huge respect for Oyonnax despite its relatively recent arrival at European rugby’s top table, and says that Ulster has to be at its most alert, and in the right, focused mindset.
“Oyonnax is very much in the mould of the typical Top 14 side in that they have a huge pack which will take you on up front. They’re a team which from our analysis will compete in every aspect of play, scrum, lineout, the breakdown, they’ll run the ball from deep and they can pound you from close in.
“They’ve got an all-round game, and though they may not be deemed to be in the same class as the Stades and the Toulouses we should remember they did a number on Stade Francais a couple of weeks ago, and beat them well. So we have to be really focused on our own detail, be organised, and when the opportunities present themselves we need to ensure we look after the ball and convert possession and position into points.”
And Clarke was convinced that games such as Sunday’s fuelled the players, and particularly in a town like Oyonnax where rugby is such a part of the culture.
“We’re going back again for the postponed fixture, and we have got that experience of the area, of the stadium.
The diaspora’s quite wide, and rugby brings the whole community together, and we got a real welcome in November but we’ve been around long enough to realise that that welcome lasts only up to kick-off, and then it’s going to be quite ferocious thereafter!”
Within the context of Europe Clarke says Ulster try to improve its game all the time, you have that week-to-week, monthly and longer-term planning. The danger is that if you try to change too quickly, too early, confusion can creep in.
“In that regard the focus at this moment is very much on Oyonnax, but all the time you’re trying to progress your game, the players’ individual skills, look at unit aspects of play from last weekend.
“What’s adding to the enthusiasm of the whole squad is that the players who’ve stepped up recently maybe have bolted down a starting place for the moment. There’s frustration for some players if that there is only room for 23 on matchday, but one of our strengths is that everyone’s looking towards performances,” says Clarke.
And he’s not expecting the Ulster side to go hell-for-leather for a bonus point win, earning the right to a victory is the priority.
“It’s going to be a quick game on 3G surface, our focus is to build a performance. We’ve got to build that pressure, be good about our business, good when we don’t have the ball. And when we do, play in the right areas of the park, and make the right decisions - whether to be direct or to go around,” he says.
This intense student of the game insists, though, that rugby is still – as it always has been – a simple game, and it’s clear that he and the coaching team will ask that it is the basics that are done well, to provide the platform to build patterns and to get in positions to display the full armoury of skills in the Ulster side.
He respects the opposition, but he clearly believes the work that the management and players are doing should demonstrate a superior level of ability all over the pitch, but with Allen Clarke in the dressing room there’ll be a strong message: no complacency, just back yourselves.