Werner Kok had been up for this one, throwing himself into the fray with notable commitment when Ulster needed a lift last Friday.
The 32-year-old was conspicuous through his actions against Munster and has now been involved in all 10 of Ulster’s games this season, starting in nine of them since being benched for the season opener with Glasgow.
Perhaps it was no coincidence, then that the South African popped in to offer his post-match thoughts after he and his team-mates had experienced that sickening feeling of defeat, made even more uncomfortable as it was for the fifth time in succession.
After all, the former Sharks player revealed that he has been through this situation so he can put context into what the Ulster squad are currently experiencing.
“I’ve been here before and you can’t really worry about what’s on the outside and what other people say,” insisted the winger who can also play in midfield.
“It becomes more internal now, and it actually brings out the character in the team.
“It really brings out boys’ fight and character when it’s not going that well, so it’s going to test us now.”
With Connacht waiting the other side of Christmas and then round three in Europe at Leicester Tigers, the immediate outlook hardly looks as if it will be offering much in the way of a genuine panacea.
So, are we in crisis mode?
Kok points out that losing can become a habit — it seems to be getting that way right now — and naturally that brings with it a dent in morale.
The solution is to simply battle on and it will come.
“It hits confidence a little bit but the big thing is not to get into a habit of losing, the coaches are doing very well to get us out of it and leave us in a good space for the next game,” he added.
“It becomes a little bit more personal to keep fighting and make sure you’re up for the next one.
“It’s just one or two things to sort out and the boys will find momentum.
“We’ll start getting momentum and it’s something we have to strive for.
“It’s still a long season so we can push for the next few and one game can put you in the top eight and then we’ll be in it (the Play-Off positions) again.
“We need to stick in it, look internally and don’t think about anything else, just focus on ourselves.”
Though he played against Connacht earlier this season in a game Ulster won back in October, Kok has never experienced Galway before and, with an injury crisis now seemingly enveloping the backline, it would appear he will be on his way west after Christmas for Saturday’s second festive interprovincial.
“I haven’t been there yet, but I’ve heard it’s pretty tough,” is Kok’s reaction to what is usually a visit where the weather also becomes part of the conversation.
“Another Irish derby so we’ll sit down and see where we can improve but there are a lot of positives and whenever we get into the 22, we just have to get more points, and we just have to take the game to them.”
As for the result, Kok emphasised that the squad is staying upbeat despite the backdrop.
“It was one of those when you thought you could do it but decisions and things happened on the pitch that didn’t go our way but I think the boys stuck in there and there are a lot of positives that came out of this game,” he explained.
“We just have to go back to the drawing board and just try and do our best again.”
The red card from last Friday, when Tom O’Toole was sent on his way for driving down on Alex Nankivell’s exposed leg, certainly made things very challenging for Ulster, though Kok was at pains to point out that the defeat could in no way be landed at the tighthead prop’s door.
“It was sad that Tom had to go off, he is a pillar in our scrum and that put us a little bit on the back foot but it’s not on him,” he said.
Defensive frailty again bit Ulster hard in the concession of points after they had scored being particularly damaging, as the winger explained.
“Those are the ones that really put you on the back foot, we have to try and get just another positive on top of our positive, you can’t go positive-negative the whole time and I think that is a big thing for us, to really stay in it to control the game a little bit better,” he added.
“We will bounce back.”
They certainly need to and preferably sooner rather than later.