Here is what he had to say…
On neutralising Connacht’s threats…
“We have to be aware of what Connacht bring because they play some really nice rugby. A lot about them has changed over the last few years and they’re playing lovely rugby. A good few players are in really good form as well. We have to focus on ourselves as well. In the last few weeks, we’ve come a long way since [we played them] at Aviva Stadium. During that time when there were no games during the international period, we focused on a few things and started to go in the right direction again. Hopefully we can show that at the weekend.”
On Ulster’s attacking game…
“There have been plenty of work-ons throughout the last couple of weeks with passing and kicking; the fundamentals. In terms of making smart decisions and our counter-attack, they have gone well recently. That has been a big focus of ours, getting that nailed-down. We’re getting nice shape off our counter-attack and have worked on that to get into a much better shape. It’s starting to come through more. Our connection with the forwards is a lot better now too. It’s going in the right direction but we still have a lot to improve on.”
On his pin-point 50:22 kick versus Northampton Saints…
“It was one of those things when you look up and see a lot of space and I thought I would try to drill this low into the ground. Thankfully it kept kicking on and didn’t stop!
“It’s always in the back of your head that it’s a new law now. When you’re catching in the back-field, you need to have a few options. You either play around a team, through a team or over a team. They are constantly things I’m thinking of making a smart decision around. Once you’ve got the ball, what is the best option, where is the best space I can play to? That was probably the best option at that time.”
On Connacht’s back three…
“Connacht have a lot of players in-form and their back three have been very dangerous, but we’re used to coming up against teams that have a dangerous back three. Yes, we’ll have to be aware of them, but we will need to focus on what we can bring to the game as well. There are a lot of players who are in-form, so if we can nail down what we do, we hope that will nullify them.”
Tickets
Tickets are still available for the first of Ulster's two festive Inter-Pros at Kingspan Stadium versus Connacht on Sunday (5.15pm kick-off).