European Cup team news: There is a pathological fear in professional sport of providing an opposition with incendiary material ahead of a contest. It guarantees most press conferences carry little bite.
At Ravenhill yesterday Ulster coach Alan Solomons and three players, captain Andy Ward, Rowan Frost and Paddy Wallace, eschewed any triumphalism following Sunday's 33-0 Heineken European Cup thrashing of Leicester at Ravenhill.
The primary concern would have been that the Irish province travel to Welford Road, home of the Tigers, this Saturday for a second tête-à-tête and don't want to appear antagonistic, at least not until the first whistle. It should also be pointed out the aforementioned quartet would not be noted for trash talking.
It's at times like this one craves a small dose of Austin Healey verbals. He apparently treated anyone in earshot at Belfast City Airport last Sunday night to a detailed preview of Ulster's fate in Leicester on Saturday. Revenge will be the dish of the day according to the former England back. Not on the evidence of last weekend's ineptitude.
Yet for all Leicester's shortcomings on the afternoon, Ulster deserve great credit for the manner in which they dismantled the visitors, a point Solomons correctly stressed: "We performed very well, a very good team performance. On the day Leicester were a shade off their game but I don't want to take anything from the (Ulster) players.
"It's very important in professional sport to have consistency of performance and it is up to us to take a leaf out of our own book. We performed very well against Stade Francais and then the following week performed very well against Edinburgh away in the Celtic Cup final."
Solomons knows Leicester's pride will demand a huge improvement in performance before a 16,500 sell-out crowd. The two-time European champions have considerable scope. From an Ulster perspective the euphoria of last weekend has been suppressed.
"We put that to bed when we went through the (video) tape on Monday. We know it's going to be a massive challenge on Saturday but we're looking forward to it and so we should be. It's for days like this that you play professional sport, when you're really tested," says Solomons.
There is an onus on both sides to vary their respective game plans. Given the video analysis they did before the first contest and the footage of that match, they'll be well known to one another.
Match discussion was temporarily suspended while Solomons fielded a question about his future. His three-year contract with Ulster is up at the end of the season and there is increasing speculation Northampton are poised to offer him a serious financial incentive to succeed Wayne Smith, who's likely to link up with the new All Blacks set-up.
Solomons easily deflected the inquiry, pointing out that "the next few weeks are very important to Ulster rugby and that is the most important thing to me".
When informed the bookmakers had made Ulster favourites to top the group the canny South African laughed. "When I was young my father told me to stay away from the bookmakers."
He knows Ulster stand on the threshold of a seminal moment in the group. None of the four teams has won away from home and therefore becoming the first to do so would be a significant fillip. It would cushion the blow of having to travel the following week to France to face Stade Francais.
One quality Solomons hopes will be evident again is Ulster's aggressive defence. "You have to start with fierce desire that provides you with fierce commitment that allows you to bring out those defensive qualities."
It underpinned their victory in the first game. Solomons unsurprisingly announced an unchanged team and bench.
Shane Stewart has recovered from his shoulder injury and will partner Paul Steinmetz in the centre. Further good news is Neil McMillan and Ronan McCormack have played club matches recently, rehabilitating from long-term injuries.
Only Johnny Bell and Ryan Constable were not considered.
For now the only thing that matters is 80-plus minutes at Welford Road and the chance to turn a very good season into a potentially great one.
World Cup referee Nigel Williams will replace fellow Welshman Nigel Whitehouse for Saturday's game. Whitehouse has stood down from the fixture due to a family bereavement.
ULSTER (v Leicester): P Wallace; J Topping, S Stewart, P Steinmetz, T Howe; D Humphreys, N Doak; R Kempson, M Sexton, S Best, M Mustchin, R Frost, A Ward (capt), R Wilson, N Best. Replacements: P Shields, R Moore, M McCullough, W Brosnihan, K Campbell, A Larkin, B Cunningham.
