"The way Rory got the boys at half-time in the dressing room was something pretty special to watch, I've never been in a position like that before, so far behind."
Paddy Jackson, whose introduction in the second half sparked a remarkable Ulster revival, says skipper Rory Best’s impassioned plea to the squad was something he’ll remember for a long time.
“You could see the fire in his eyes, how much this club means to him, how big this game was, and he said we had 40 minutes to win it.
“He talked about the history we could make, winning twice in France in one campaign, and we were definitely all fired up by Rory, and he can do that because he has so much respect from us all.”
Jackson believes that the captain’s intervention was critical in a shaken Ulster digging deep into its character and soul to turn around a 23-0 interval deficit which had players, management and fans facing the prospect of its Champions Cup hopes being effectively ruled out in the shadow of the Alps.
“Perhaps there were a few stronger words in there too, but there’d been a few heads down, near the floor of the changing room, and the way we played in the second half is how we can play and it showed we can claw our way back,” said Jackson, after his late, late long-range penalty salvaged a famous 24-23 Champions Cup win in Oyonnax on Sunday.
With Ulster 23-0 down at the break, and hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages apparently fading, Jackson, with Ruan Pienaar and Nick Williams, was sprung from the replacements bench and asked to orchestrate one of the finest comebacks in European history.
“It was hard to watch in the first half, we struggled in difficult conditions and to be fair it cleared up a fair bit after the break, and though obviously there was a little doubt there as well, I was able to play a little more with the ball-in-hand.
“But we’re going to have to look at the first half, and the game against Munster, to remedy a few things,” Jackson says, immediately looking forward to the daunting challenge posed by pool leaders, Saracens, in England this weekend.
And as to his determined, instant decision to opt to kick the 78th minute penalty from 50 metres when Oyonnax clung to a 23-21 lead, and on the verge of causing one of the real upsets of the tournament, the Ireland outhalf had no doubt he could snatch victory for his side.
“I struggled a bit last week at Kingspan Stadium, but I’d been striking the ball very well all week, and in the warm-up:
“I’ve got to learn that I’m going to be in these situations more often, and sometimes one minute you’re the hero, the other minute you’re the bad guy. Thankfully it worked out on Sunday.”
Clearly Jackson was relieved that Ulster’s path to the quarter-finals had been so dramatically re-opened:
“As I say, it’s good to know we can claw our way back from depths like that, 23-nil down, but going to Saracens this weekend is going to be a huge task, especially the way they embarrassed us at home in November,” says Jackson.
“There’s a lot to work on from last week and this week, and the problems we had at home to Saracens means that on their pitch at Allianz Park we’ve got to remedy that.”
Paddy Jackson, whose introduction in the second half sparked a remarkable Ulster revival, says skipper Rory Best’s impassioned plea to the squad was something he’ll remember for a long time.
“You could see the fire in his eyes, how much this club means to him, how big this game was, and he said we had 40 minutes to win it.
“He talked about the history we could make, winning twice in France in one campaign, and we were definitely all fired up by Rory, and he can do that because he has so much respect from us all.”
Jackson believes that the captain’s intervention was critical in a shaken Ulster digging deep into its character and soul to turn around a 23-0 interval deficit which had players, management and fans facing the prospect of its Champions Cup hopes being effectively ruled out in the shadow of the Alps.
“Perhaps there were a few stronger words in there too, but there’d been a few heads down, near the floor of the changing room, and the way we played in the second half is how we can play and it showed we can claw our way back,” said Jackson, after his late, late long-range penalty salvaged a famous 24-23 Champions Cup win in Oyonnax on Sunday.
With Ulster 23-0 down at the break, and hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages apparently fading, Jackson, with Ruan Pienaar and Nick Williams, was sprung from the replacements bench and asked to orchestrate one of the finest comebacks in European history.
“It was hard to watch in the first half, we struggled in difficult conditions and to be fair it cleared up a fair bit after the break, and though obviously there was a little doubt there as well, I was able to play a little more with the ball-in-hand.
“But we’re going to have to look at the first half, and the game against Munster, to remedy a few things,” Jackson says, immediately looking forward to the daunting challenge posed by pool leaders, Saracens, in England this weekend.
And as to his determined, instant decision to opt to kick the 78th minute penalty from 50 metres when Oyonnax clung to a 23-21 lead, and on the verge of causing one of the real upsets of the tournament, the Ireland outhalf had no doubt he could snatch victory for his side.
“I struggled a bit last week at Kingspan Stadium, but I’d been striking the ball very well all week, and in the warm-up:
“I’ve got to learn that I’m going to be in these situations more often, and sometimes one minute you’re the hero, the other minute you’re the bad guy. Thankfully it worked out on Sunday.”
Clearly Jackson was relieved that Ulster’s path to the quarter-finals had been so dramatically re-opened:
“As I say, it’s good to know we can claw our way back from depths like that, 23-nil down, but going to Saracens this weekend is going to be a huge task, especially the way they embarrassed us at home in November,” says Jackson.
“There’s a lot to work on from last week and this week, and the problems we had at home to Saracens means that on their pitch at Allianz Park we’ve got to remedy that.”