Clearly disappointed, almost crestfallen, Nick Williams was determined to see beyond the PRO12 defeat at home to Munster...
“If we’re going to be frank and honest we didn’t play to the standards we require of ourselves, to lose at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, after all the work that we’ve done in the last four or five weeks, was probably a bit of a step back.
“But it’s not all doom and gloom, this one game isn’t going to change the path we’re on. Perhaps from the outside it’s not so obvious, but we believe in what we’re doing, the way we are playing, and we’ll come through this,” he said.
And had defeat been harder to take because it was against one of his former clubs?
“Not at all. This has been my home for the last four years, naturally you are going to be disappointed as a player, to lose and to lose at home on Andrew Trimble’s 200th game wasn’t the way we wanted things to turn out,” said the No.8, who’ll join Cardiff at the end of the season.
“As Les Kiss has said we like to back ourselves, and we probably played too much ‘footy’ in our own 20 metres. I was guilty of two or three errors there, and when you try to push things in this day and age mistakes lead to more mistakes.
“Fair play to Munster, they dug in deep and we knew we had to go to places we hadn’t been before. Unfortunately on Saturday we didn’t maintain the momentum we’ve had recently,” Williams said, the pain of the defeat clear.
He wouldn’t make any excuses about the wet, windy conditions, nor about the swathe of chest and cold infections which swept through the Ulster camp in the days leading up to the game.
“We play in rain, hail or sunshine, we’re professionals who’ve been playing this game a long time and you always want to play decent rugby, and since Les came in he’s trusted us to back our skills whatever the conditions. Look, it was wet, there was a bit of rain, but you want to give it a ‘crack’, and sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t,” said the former Junior All Black clearly unhappy at his side having let itself and the big New Year crowd at Kingspan down.
“Look, we've got to have an honesty session this week, putting things to bed first and then we’ll think about France. There’ll be a few questions asked after the result against Munster, but we’ll learn from that and from the video sessions we’ll all have.
“But this squad is a quality group of players, and one poor performance, one bad result, doesn’t put us off-track. Immediately after a game like this against Munster you are a bit ‘down’, but overall there’s a lot to be positive about and when we get this out of our system, been honest with ourselves, we’ll be ready and confident for Europe.”
Thoughts of his time at Ulster nearing its end have not occurred to Williams, if anything – he said – he was even more committed to the club, determined to do his best to be part of a group of players he seriously believes can win silverware.
“I’m unhappy that after that Munster game we haven’t maintained the momentum and the standards we have set ourselves, but I have absolutely no doubt we’ll look back on the weekend as an unfortunate ‘blip’, and we can really kick on now.”
“If we’re going to be frank and honest we didn’t play to the standards we require of ourselves, to lose at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, after all the work that we’ve done in the last four or five weeks, was probably a bit of a step back.
“But it’s not all doom and gloom, this one game isn’t going to change the path we’re on. Perhaps from the outside it’s not so obvious, but we believe in what we’re doing, the way we are playing, and we’ll come through this,” he said.
And had defeat been harder to take because it was against one of his former clubs?
“Not at all. This has been my home for the last four years, naturally you are going to be disappointed as a player, to lose and to lose at home on Andrew Trimble’s 200th game wasn’t the way we wanted things to turn out,” said the No.8, who’ll join Cardiff at the end of the season.
“As Les Kiss has said we like to back ourselves, and we probably played too much ‘footy’ in our own 20 metres. I was guilty of two or three errors there, and when you try to push things in this day and age mistakes lead to more mistakes.
“Fair play to Munster, they dug in deep and we knew we had to go to places we hadn’t been before. Unfortunately on Saturday we didn’t maintain the momentum we’ve had recently,” Williams said, the pain of the defeat clear.
He wouldn’t make any excuses about the wet, windy conditions, nor about the swathe of chest and cold infections which swept through the Ulster camp in the days leading up to the game.
“We play in rain, hail or sunshine, we’re professionals who’ve been playing this game a long time and you always want to play decent rugby, and since Les came in he’s trusted us to back our skills whatever the conditions. Look, it was wet, there was a bit of rain, but you want to give it a ‘crack’, and sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t,” said the former Junior All Black clearly unhappy at his side having let itself and the big New Year crowd at Kingspan down.
“Look, we've got to have an honesty session this week, putting things to bed first and then we’ll think about France. There’ll be a few questions asked after the result against Munster, but we’ll learn from that and from the video sessions we’ll all have.
“But this squad is a quality group of players, and one poor performance, one bad result, doesn’t put us off-track. Immediately after a game like this against Munster you are a bit ‘down’, but overall there’s a lot to be positive about and when we get this out of our system, been honest with ourselves, we’ll be ready and confident for Europe.”
Thoughts of his time at Ulster nearing its end have not occurred to Williams, if anything – he said – he was even more committed to the club, determined to do his best to be part of a group of players he seriously believes can win silverware.
“I’m unhappy that after that Munster game we haven’t maintained the momentum and the standards we have set ourselves, but I have absolutely no doubt we’ll look back on the weekend as an unfortunate ‘blip’, and we can really kick on now.”