“LAST SEASON we went maybe beyond our dreams,” says Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin. “We did well in both competitions. We got out of our group, we got into the top four (of the Celtic League), and then we stuttered.
“We don’t want to be there stuttering. We want to force ourselves to greater things. That’s the challenge for us all.
“That’s why David (Humphreys) and myself went in to do a job in Ulster.”
The next fortnight will show if any concrete progress has been made in the “job” these men are doing.
Connacht tomorrow is a valuable tune-up before Clermont Auvergne come to Belfast. A week later they must get something at Leicester Tigers.
Under the guidance of Humphreys as Director of Rugby and McLaughlin as coach, Ulster have stretched some fairly sizeable budgetary capabilities to bridge that gap to Europe’s elite.
Last season was certainly encouraging progress but the Northampton Saints (23-13) and Leinster (18-3) swept them aside when it came to knockout rugby.
During the World Cup a shadow team fell nine points adrift of Munster and Leinster and two points shy of Connacht in the RaboDirect Pro12 league.
A wave of young talent is clearly visible now, most evidently in their three-quarters where Nevin Spence and Craig Gilroy offer quality, but it is from South Africa that they have recruited additional steel and leadership to complement men like Rory Best and Stephen Ferris.
Johann Muller sat beside McLaughlin at this week’s Heineken Cup launch in Dublin’s Convention Centre.
The decision to transfer the captaincy from Best to the 22-times capped lock was made before his call-up to the Springboks World Cup squad. Regardless, everyone is back on deck now.
If not for the presence of iconic Springbok secondrows Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha these past 10 years, it could have been Muller hoisting the William Webb Ellis trophy in 2007. Muller was always the Natal Sharks captain despite the presence of John Smit.
“I’ve played with John since I started my career. We played together at the Sharks and at the ’Boks. Played in two World Cups together when he was the captain. He is an outstanding leader. What stands out for me about John is it doesn’t matter if it is a great day or a bad day he stays exactly the same. His character doesn’t change. That’s the secret to him.
“He’s the best international captain, I believe, that the world has ever seen. Of all the pressure that has been in South African rugby over the last 10 years he has been involved in, to come out of that the way he did I think is a phenomenal job.”
The Ulster squad is littered with South Africans. Pedrie Wannenberg, Robbie Diack and most importantly the versatile, place-kicker Ruan Pienaar. The latter was also recalled by the ’Boks for the World Cup but, like Muller, was hardly used.
For whatever reason, the Afrikaner scrummaging machine BJ Botha decamped to Munster but snapping up 28-year-old All Black tighthead John Afoa seems like better long-term business. Afoa arrived in Belfast yesterday.
Another Kiwi, Jared Payne, was poised to become an essential addition at fullback but a ruptured Achilles’ tendon saw Muller immediately recommend the retiring 36-year-old Stefan Terblanche on a short-term deal. Yet another Shark in Ulster waters.
Ferris and Best return from New Zealand in the form of their lives. So too Andrew Trimble. Paddy Wallace, Tom Court and Scotland’s Simon Danielli should also feature against Connacht tomorrow at Ravenhill.
Then comes Clermont and Leicester away with Aironi up twice in December. No tougher examination of their progress could be found.
“Absolutely,” Muller agrees. “And we as players put that pressure on ourselves as well. We want to be better than average and that means backing up a season like last year with a better one. I can tell you from a squad and management point of view we want to make the step up once again.
“Yes, we probably got the toughest group in the whole Heineken Cup but to be the best in Europe we’ve got to play and beat those teams.”
