Ulster may have slipped out of the play-off places in the PRO12 following Saturday’s defeat to Leinster, but the province’s head coach, Neil Doak, believes that with the side one point behind Leinster and just five points off the top, that Ulster still have every chance of qualifying for the knock out stages come May.
Ulster may have slipped out of the play-off places in the PRO12 following Saturday’s defeat to Leinster, but the province’s head coach, Neil Doak, believes that with the side one point behind Leinster and just five points off the top, that Ulster still have every chance of qualifying for the knock out stages come May.
"It's going to be tight in the play-offs," Doak says - but if we take the opportunities that we create I've no doubt we can get into the top four."
One of the deciding moments in Saturday’s game was the quick thinking of Ian Madigan whose tap and go resulted in a try.
“We just fell asleep”, says Doak. “When you play against Leinster you have to make sure that you are on the money all the time. Unfortunately, we just fell asleep. Its something that we talked about this week - being ready. Ian took his chance and got his rewards. We have to learn from that.”
With just one away win so far this season the coaches know that improving Ulster’s performances on the road will be key to sustaining a title challenge. Doak says that form needs to improve, starting this weekend against Treviso:
“All away games are tough games,” he says. "You aim to try and get as many points away from home as possible and to try and knick the odd win to keep the points ticking over. We have a few battered bodies and resources are a bit stretched at the moment. It has been tough going over the past month or so but to be fair to the guys they have dug in and it has been getting better. We just have to keep building and make sure that when we get opportunities we finish them off.”
Ulster may have slipped out of the play-off places in the PRO12 following Saturday’s defeat to Leinster, but the province’s head coach, Neil Doak, believes that with the side one point behind Leinster and just five points off the top, that Ulster still have every chance of qualifying for the knock out stages come May.
"It's going to be tight in the play-offs," Doak says - but if we take the opportunities that we create I've no doubt we can get into the top four."
One of the deciding moments in Saturday’s game was the quick thinking of Ian Madigan whose tap and go resulted in a try.
“We just fell asleep”, says Doak. “When you play against Leinster you have to make sure that you are on the money all the time. Unfortunately, we just fell asleep. Its something that we talked about this week - being ready. Ian took his chance and got his rewards. We have to learn from that.”
With just one away win so far this season the coaches know that improving Ulster’s performances on the road will be key to sustaining a title challenge. Doak says that form needs to improve, starting this weekend against Treviso:
“All away games are tough games,” he says. "You aim to try and get as many points away from home as possible and to try and knick the odd win to keep the points ticking over. We have a few battered bodies and resources are a bit stretched at the moment. It has been tough going over the past month or so but to be fair to the guys they have dug in and it has been getting better. We just have to keep building and make sure that when we get opportunities we finish them off.”