Ulster lock Kieran Treadwell admits that spirits are high after registering home wins over Scarlets and Edinburgh, both of whom finished above Ulster in last season's PRO14 standings, but insists the squad must continue to work hard to in order to maintain positive momentum.
“There’s a good buzz around camp,” explained the Irish-capped second row. “We’ve got wins against two good teams and we’ve played pretty well for large parts of those games. It’s taken us a while to break them down but to get those victories right at the death shows a lot about the character of the squad and although it’s quite early in the season, we can take confidence from that.
“We have some big characters in the team who have delivered for us but it’s a full squad effort. The non-23 have done a great job in preparing the team and they deserve a lot of the credit too.
“The challenge for us is to kick on and continue the winning momentum. We look at it on a week by week basis - we go out there and prepare for each team individually and we go out there with the mentality that if we prepare well we can get results.”
Dan McFarland’s squad landed in South Africa on Thursday ahead of games against the Southern Kings on Sunday and the Cheetahs five days later. While the Kings struggled last season, they are renowned for their dangerous attacking instincts, which were on display in a four-try performance against the Dragons last weekend. Treadwell is understandably wary of the threat posed by the side based in Port Elizabeth…
“I don’t think there’s ever an easy game in this league - they are all tough teams to come up against. Last season they gave us a real scare over here so we know we’re in for a battle. We know they are dangerous and they have got better this season from what we’ve seen. They have bags of pace out wide so it will be up to us to mitigate against that and try to control things.”
The opportunity to spend more than just a couple of days away together is a new experience for the squad, following PRO14 Rugby’s expansion into South Africa last year. It’s something that Treadwell sees as a big positive for the group, who will have 11 days in each other’s company.
“It’s very rare that you get that time together as a squad in this type of environment so we will make the most of it. With so many new players and coaches this season, it will be particularly useful as it allows more time for meetings and analysis throughout the trip.”
“There’s a good buzz around camp,” explained the Irish-capped second row. “We’ve got wins against two good teams and we’ve played pretty well for large parts of those games. It’s taken us a while to break them down but to get those victories right at the death shows a lot about the character of the squad and although it’s quite early in the season, we can take confidence from that.
“We have some big characters in the team who have delivered for us but it’s a full squad effort. The non-23 have done a great job in preparing the team and they deserve a lot of the credit too.
“The challenge for us is to kick on and continue the winning momentum. We look at it on a week by week basis - we go out there and prepare for each team individually and we go out there with the mentality that if we prepare well we can get results.”
Dan McFarland’s squad landed in South Africa on Thursday ahead of games against the Southern Kings on Sunday and the Cheetahs five days later. While the Kings struggled last season, they are renowned for their dangerous attacking instincts, which were on display in a four-try performance against the Dragons last weekend. Treadwell is understandably wary of the threat posed by the side based in Port Elizabeth…
“I don’t think there’s ever an easy game in this league - they are all tough teams to come up against. Last season they gave us a real scare over here so we know we’re in for a battle. We know they are dangerous and they have got better this season from what we’ve seen. They have bags of pace out wide so it will be up to us to mitigate against that and try to control things.”
The opportunity to spend more than just a couple of days away together is a new experience for the squad, following PRO14 Rugby’s expansion into South Africa last year. It’s something that Treadwell sees as a big positive for the group, who will have 11 days in each other’s company.
“It’s very rare that you get that time together as a squad in this type of environment so we will make the most of it. With so many new players and coaches this season, it will be particularly useful as it allows more time for meetings and analysis throughout the trip.”