Speaking at the mid-week press conference ahead of Friday's Guinness PRO14 clash against the Southern Kings, Ulster Rugby Operations Director Bryn Cunningham gave a wide ranging interview with the assembled media.
With the departure of Director of Rugby Les Kiss just five days previous, unsurprisingly, the opening questions focused on the shake-up in the coaching team and how that would play out for the remainder of this season and beyond.
“When Les first came in everyone was hugely excited about it. He had great pedigree from his time on the Irish scene and I think both on and off the pitch everyone was excited. As an individual, everyone knew him as a really good guy, very humble, unbelievable work ethic and someone who put a huge amount of effort into doing everything he possibly could to make things work at Ulster Rugby,” said Cunningham.
“Unfortunately, for a variety of different reasons, things have not panned out the way he had hoped and the way that everyone else, including the supporters, had hoped. I suppose it is the nature of professional rugby that there are changes that happen along the way. There is a change now and as far as we are concerned it is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to look at our traditions, our history, and what is important to Ulster Rugby, what is important for all our stakeholders and what supporters want to see on the pitch.
“It is about making sure we get those fundamental things in place and the type of characteristics we need to see in the players - that competitiveness, that energy, enthusiasm - and with that comes performances. That is what we are really focusing on moving forward.”
Cunningham also confirmed that Head Coach Jono Gibbes would now have full authority on team training, selection and on-field performance, with off-field matters falling under the remit of himself.
While Les Kiss took on much of the responsibility for coaching the team’s defensive structure, Cunningham confirmed that, in the immediate term, this duty will be divided among the current expertise of Gibbes and Assistant Coach Dwayne Peel, along with input from one of the most experienced members of the playing squad.
“Obviously coaches at that level, particularly Jono’s level, will have been competent at defence over a period of time. He will have his own views on what needs done there. Dwayne, from a back's perspective, will be very au fait with set piece defence. Jared Payne is also in there helping out at the moment. He is still injured at present and unavailable to play, but he has got a fantastic rugby brain. He is one of the smartest players in modern day rugby. I know Joe Schmidt holds him in incredibly high regard in relation to how he operates and how he runs that backline.”
In terms of the playing roster, the former Ulster full-back outlined some of the key priorities on the recruitment front for next year and further ahead.
“Our main objective at the moment is to ensure we have a pack that can compete over the next couple of years. That's why we went out to bring in guys like Marty Moore and Jordi Murphy, to try and make an impact there.
“Marcell Coetzee has obviously been a massive loss for us over the last couple of seasons, and we could see the impact he had when he was on the field. We know the player we expect him to be and certainly the impact we expect him to have next year. So, already we can see the shape of something coming together, and we need to continue to add to that.
“That doesn't mean we ignore the backs. There is uncertainty, uncertainty about where we will be, what the squad will be. It makes succession planning in the backs this year quite difficult. But I am quite confident that we have done enough work in the background that, if required, we can make something happen and be in a stronger position next season. We want to be competing with the very best, and we want the best squad available to us.”
Looking at the immediate challenge ahead, Cunningham is confident that the team will begin the upcoming block of four games in as many weeks with a win over the Southern Kings on Friday night.
“Home games, you target every one as a win, no matter what level of opposition you’re up against. But the Southern Kings are a bit of an anomaly. They’re still relatively new to everyone in the competition and we’ve seen they can score some unbelievable tries from nothing, they are dangerous and they have a lot of pace.
“For us, it’s about focusing on ourselves and focusing on what we need to get right. From speaking to Jono and the boys, the training has gone really well this week. It’s been short, sharp, really good stuff, and the guys are energised. That’s what we’re after and if we can transfer that into the game on Friday night we’d be confident that the result will look after itself.”
With the departure of Director of Rugby Les Kiss just five days previous, unsurprisingly, the opening questions focused on the shake-up in the coaching team and how that would play out for the remainder of this season and beyond.
“When Les first came in everyone was hugely excited about it. He had great pedigree from his time on the Irish scene and I think both on and off the pitch everyone was excited. As an individual, everyone knew him as a really good guy, very humble, unbelievable work ethic and someone who put a huge amount of effort into doing everything he possibly could to make things work at Ulster Rugby,” said Cunningham.
“Unfortunately, for a variety of different reasons, things have not panned out the way he had hoped and the way that everyone else, including the supporters, had hoped. I suppose it is the nature of professional rugby that there are changes that happen along the way. There is a change now and as far as we are concerned it is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to look at our traditions, our history, and what is important to Ulster Rugby, what is important for all our stakeholders and what supporters want to see on the pitch.
“It is about making sure we get those fundamental things in place and the type of characteristics we need to see in the players - that competitiveness, that energy, enthusiasm - and with that comes performances. That is what we are really focusing on moving forward.”
Cunningham also confirmed that Head Coach Jono Gibbes would now have full authority on team training, selection and on-field performance, with off-field matters falling under the remit of himself.
While Les Kiss took on much of the responsibility for coaching the team’s defensive structure, Cunningham confirmed that, in the immediate term, this duty will be divided among the current expertise of Gibbes and Assistant Coach Dwayne Peel, along with input from one of the most experienced members of the playing squad.
“Obviously coaches at that level, particularly Jono’s level, will have been competent at defence over a period of time. He will have his own views on what needs done there. Dwayne, from a back's perspective, will be very au fait with set piece defence. Jared Payne is also in there helping out at the moment. He is still injured at present and unavailable to play, but he has got a fantastic rugby brain. He is one of the smartest players in modern day rugby. I know Joe Schmidt holds him in incredibly high regard in relation to how he operates and how he runs that backline.”
In terms of the playing roster, the former Ulster full-back outlined some of the key priorities on the recruitment front for next year and further ahead.
“Our main objective at the moment is to ensure we have a pack that can compete over the next couple of years. That's why we went out to bring in guys like Marty Moore and Jordi Murphy, to try and make an impact there.
“Marcell Coetzee has obviously been a massive loss for us over the last couple of seasons, and we could see the impact he had when he was on the field. We know the player we expect him to be and certainly the impact we expect him to have next year. So, already we can see the shape of something coming together, and we need to continue to add to that.
“That doesn't mean we ignore the backs. There is uncertainty, uncertainty about where we will be, what the squad will be. It makes succession planning in the backs this year quite difficult. But I am quite confident that we have done enough work in the background that, if required, we can make something happen and be in a stronger position next season. We want to be competing with the very best, and we want the best squad available to us.”
Looking at the immediate challenge ahead, Cunningham is confident that the team will begin the upcoming block of four games in as many weeks with a win over the Southern Kings on Friday night.
“Home games, you target every one as a win, no matter what level of opposition you’re up against. But the Southern Kings are a bit of an anomaly. They’re still relatively new to everyone in the competition and we’ve seen they can score some unbelievable tries from nothing, they are dangerous and they have a lot of pace.
“For us, it’s about focusing on ourselves and focusing on what we need to get right. From speaking to Jono and the boys, the training has gone really well this week. It’s been short, sharp, really good stuff, and the guys are energised. That’s what we’re after and if we can transfer that into the game on Friday night we’d be confident that the result will look after itself.”