Ulster started their Guinness PRO12 campaign in perfect fashion with a bonus point win over Ospreys at Kingspan Stadium. After the match, Head Coach, Neil Doak, was understandably pleased with the performance of his side. "I thought that we were very good," he says. "We knew that the Ospreys were going to bring physicality and we more than matched them. Our defence was superb. We got off the line really well and put them under pressure. It was great to get the bonus point. We lacked continuity in some of our pre-season matches but I thought that in this game we were excellent." With Ian Humphreys and Sam Windsor both missing through injury, Doak chose Peter Nelson to play at outhalf. It was a big call, but the player more than repaid the confidence placed in him by his coach. Doak says: "That performance was a credit to Pete. He has a great skill set. He showed great composure in front of a big crowd and Ospreys are not an easy side to play against. They are always going to challenge you physically. I think we got a lot of things right and we have to back that up next week against Scarlets." While the coach was pleased with how Nelson played, he was also quick to highlight the contribution of man of the match Stuart McCloskey and his partner in midfield, Luke Marshall: "If Stuart had had a little bit of luck last year he could have been pushing hard for that extended World Cup squad," believes Doak. "Both he and Luke (Marshall) were solid in midfield and I couldn't have asked for a better performance from either of them. They helped Pete out." "As a team, what we are looking for now is consistency. We now have to go away to Scarlets, which hasn't been a happy place for us and they are excellent at home. It's going to be a difficult ask there and we have to make sure that we put in an 80 minute performance."Â
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Neil Doak: A good win, but we have to back it up against Scarlets
5th September 2015
Ulster started their Guinness PRO12 campaign in perfect fashion with a bonus point win over Ospreys at Kingspan Stadium. After the match, Head Coach, Neil Doak, was understandably pleased with the performance of his side. "I thought that we were very good," he says. "We knew that the Ospreys were going to bring physicality and we more than matched them. Our defence was superb. We got off the line really well and put them under pressure. It was great to get the bonus point. We lacked continuity in some of our pre-season matches but I thought that in this game we were excellent." With Ian Humphreys and Sam Windsor both missing through injury, Doak chose Peter Nelson to play at outhalf. It was a big call, but the player more than repaid the confidence placed in him by his coach. Doak says: "That performance was a credit to Pete. He has a great skill set. He showed great composure in front of a big crowd and Ospreys are not an easy side to play against. They are always going to challenge you physically. I think we got a lot of things right and we have to back that up next week against Scarlets." While the coach was pleased with how Nelson played, he was also quick to highlight the contribution of man of the match Stuart McCloskey and his partner in midfield, Luke Marshall: "If Stuart had had a little bit of luck last year he could have been pushing hard for that extended World Cup squad," believes Doak. "Both he and Luke (Marshall) were solid in midfield and I couldn't have asked for a better performance from either of them. They helped Pete out." "As a team, what we are looking for now is consistency. We now have to go away to Scarlets, which hasn't been a happy place for us and they are excellent at home. It's going to be a difficult ask there and we have to make sure that we put in an 80 minute performance."Â