He’s not entirely unfamiliar with losing runs having most recently come from Western Force so Jimmy Duffy knows the right noises to make when the narrative really isn’t what it should be.
Ulster’s forwards coach has been around long enough not to get too distracted by anything other than the process of prepping for and then playing games. The fact that the province have shipped four straight losses is not ignored but, equally, is not met with any notion that things can’t or won’t turn again.
“No doom and gloom in the building,” said Duffy, reacting to the province’s four straight defeats, the sequence coming most recently via Europe as well, earlier, the URC.
“We’d have liked to have four wins out of four but as long as we continue to work hard at what we’re doing we believe we will put ourselves in a good place.”
It’s Munster on Friday night with the first festive inter-provincial having that must-win tag lingering around it for both combatants as they are sitting outside the URC’s top eight with three League wins from seven while the southern province are, of course, still dealing with their own off-field issues since parting company with head coach Graham Rowntree.
“You find out what’s best for the team and players and stay on that process and not get distracted by outside noise,” Duffy added of Ulster’s current approach.
“People will have a narrative around it and look for a story, the story is it’s a young squad and the older men are really ambitious and guys like Hendy (Iain Henderson) and Rob (Herring) are driving standards.
“We’re trying to make these guys as good as they can be, and all the signs are pointing in the right direction.
“We’ve got to tighten up and be a little bit more accurate.
“We’re working hard and the lads care and there is a lot of niggle in training the last few weeks, niggle in the right way, people want to get better and they want to win so it’ll come.”
The argument is that though Ulster were spanked in Toulouse and ultimately lost heavily to Bordeaux last weekend, the latter game was at least there for them only for the final 20 minutes to head south.
“Just accuracy at the back end and staying in the fight,” Duffy stated of the Bordeaux performance.
“The boys fought really hard on the weekend, they were in a position to win the game after 62 to 63 minutes and they were a little bit inaccurate with three or four things thereafter.
“That has been the review, just tidy up those areas and put yourself in a position at 74, 75, 76 minutes to close the game out.
“To go from the Toulouse performance to be in a position to win the game on 63 minutes was the encouraging thing.
“We have a group that can bounce (back) and perform and that is what we are excited about.”
Getting this match over the line is vital for Ulster who last won a URC game back in October against the Ospreys when the Welsh side came to Ravenhill.
Again highlighting the graft being done during the week, Duffy said: “They are ambitious, and they are working really hard and they are learning off good people in the building as well.
“The likes of Stuart McCloskey are leading from the front in training and in the meetings and the young fellows are following which is great.
“We’re well clued in in terms of how good they are (Munster) but inter-pros will bring their own spark.”
No doubting that.