Club: Ulster
Last season: 5th
Odds for the title: 5/1
Season opener: home v Ospreys, 21 September
Ins
Jarleth Carey (Rotherham), Tom Court (Pertemps Bees), Simon Danielli (Borders), Carlo Del Fava (Bourgoin), Rob Dewey (Edinburgh), Kieran Hallett (Cambridge), Neil Hanna (Rotherham), Seamus Mallon (Northampton)
Outs
Kevin Maggs (Bristol), Andrew Maxwell (Edinburgh), Paul Shields (Northampton), Scott Young (released)
The player preview
Ulster’s former Wallaby lock Justin Harrison speaks to rucked.com about the new season
How’s pre-season been going?
Pretty well, we’ve had a long pre-season but we’re in good shape and hopefully when the first ball’s kicked in a couple of weeks we’ll be able to match that enthusiasm with some mental toughness and see how we go.
Disappointed with last season?
No question, you’re always disappointing when you win a title and don’t do the same the following year. We lacked consistency and mental toughness – physically and skilfully we were able to beat sides that ended up finishing above us. That can only mean that we weren’t training mentally as hard as we had been physically.
Mental training?
Yeah, it’s one of the hardest things you’ve got to train for. Every squad now in professional rugby is able to have a degree of strength and speed and tackling ability and all sorts of things that we can train for every week. But mental ability is something that’s often forgotten and we were exposed last year and didn’t handle things very well.
What’s the squad looking like?
Very young, but maybe that’s just about me getting older and older. It’s a difficult competition to balance, particularly this year with the World Cup. We’ve got a Magners League competition that has parity with the Guinness Premiership in terms of competitiveness and media scrutiny, and players are being confronted with things they normally have to deal with and will take them away from the comfort zone. Then it’s down to old blokes like me to reassure them.
There seems be a lot of young talent coming through at Ulster, what’s the current crop like?
Everyone looks good before the season starts! But there’s no doubt that youth and enthusiasm is paramount and we have a huge mix of that and now they need to understand that it’s now about repetition of skill. And for young players that can be different – they can often play well one week, then miserable the next. We hope that consistency is a main stay of the week along with intelligent decision-making when things get tough.
The squad has a lot of players in the Ireland squad, that’s a huge testament to Ulster?
It does reflect the fact that Ulster are performing better. As a result, we’ll now have a squad that will have been exposed to top-level rugby at an earlier time than they possibly should have been. In the end though, that should be a positive – particularly when it comes the tail-end of the season and the experience tells.
The rise of Ulster has been particularly rapid since your arrival. Do you tell the boys that?
On a daily basis! The Ireland boys inclusion in the national squad has happened since I joined Ulster! I would be foolish to think it had anything to do with me. I’m under no illusions that I’m not just in the team because of my physical ability but because mentally I can contribute a few things and hopefully teach some of the younger boys about what they’ve got to look forward to.
How much are you enjoying your time in Ulster?
It’s been a seesaw couple of seasons in Ulster. The playing desire and hunger is still there – it has to be when you turn up and it’s minus five and the ground’s frozen! I also get a steady income which is something I’m grateful for, but the desire to improve and perform has to be there too. It was a difficult season last year – on and off the field – for various reasons and I’m just hopefully of erasing a few demons of the past.
How are you settling in generally?
Pretty good. I feel I’m getting close to something like Northern Irish honorary resident status rather than just an import player. It feels more like home now and I’m just accepting that there’s no point worrying about the bad weather because it’s going to be there whether I like it or not.
Back to the rugby, can you win the title?
No doubt. We can win anything before the season starts. There’s no question that we’d be disappointed if we weren’t in with a chance of winning the title at the end of the season. I can’t predict who will win it or how they will win it, but I certainly believe we’re good enough and strong enough to win it.
Supporters’ prediction: 3rd. “Will be very tough as we’re missing so many players early on and the signings aren’t the most impressive. Hopefully we’ll stay in touch to get a late charge on when the season comes to a climax. Our youngsters always look good.” Jean Minton, Derry
Rucked prediction: 3rd. Having the likes of David Humphreys – when fit – and Justin Harrison around will be massive for province. Add to that a good youth policy and they’ll be back challenging again.