Ulster head coach Richie Murphy insists they are confident they can cope with the loss of defence coach Jonny Bell and has backed Willie Faloon to have a significant impact having taken on a bigger role for the rest of the season.
Former Ulster flanker Faloon, who made 67 appearances for the province across two spells, has been working with the team all season in a supporting role but will take on more responsibilities after it was confirmed that Bell would be departing the club for an opportunity outside of rugby.
The 38-year-old is no stranger to working with Murphy having been his defence coach with the Ireland Under-20s and the head coach is excited to see what Faloon can do with his enhanced role, admitting they have a plan for him long-term as well.
“I’ve worked with Willie for three years, so I know him very well,” began Murphy.
“Willie will come into the role, he won’t step in and replace Jonny, he’ll come in underneath and work with us on the defence. He won’t take full responsibility for that, it’ll be myself and himself doing a joint role there.
“He is technically a very strong coach, very good around the contact area, he’s been doing some stuff around that for a while. He takes a bigger role and we’re confident he can do the job that we need.
“It’s not an audition for the role. Willie is a part of our plan moving forward, it’s a case of in the middle of a season with a young coach, we want to give him a positive experience going forward rather than just throwing him in at the deep end.”
While Bell’s departure is a blow for the province, yesterday did yield some positive news for the coaching staff as the experienced international trio of James Hume, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale will be available for Friday’s friendly against Super Rugby Pacific side the Queensland Reds.
While McCloskey and Stockdale’s returns are big for the injury-ridden squad, the availability of Ireland centre Hume after nearly ten months on the sideline due to an ACL injury is the most welcome one.
“People have asked is this game coming at a good time. Playing friendlies at this time of year is a bit odd but it couldn’t come at a better time for getting three senior internationals back in the squad,” conceded Murphy.
“Two of the lads have been out for ten weeks and James has been out for nine months — he’s like a new signing.
“A lot of credit has to go to the guys who have been playing in their places, Jude Postlethwaite and Ben Carson, who have done an amazing job. At 22-years-of-age, they probably shouldn’t be in a position where they’ve been playing seven, eight League matches in a row.
“Ben, up to this year, had played once for Ulster and this year he’s played ten of our last 12 games. It’s a huge workload for young men, so this week gives us a chance to get them off the pitch and stick them on the bench and give them a bit of a rest.
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“Over the next couple of weeks, while we’re trying to get James’ game time right to make sure we don’t jeopardise him, it will be great to rotate those four players, and Stewart Moore as well. That competition will drive forward this team.”
Friday’s clash with the Reds, a rare chance to face a non-European team as the Australian side complete a short two-game tour, will also be well timed as it will give Ulster a chance to quickly put that embarrassing loss to Zebre Parma last time out.
Having been beaten by the URC dwellers on home turf, Murphy knows they have to turn things around quickly, and a free hit against the Reds will give them the opportunity to try and put things right before the run-in.
“We’re in a situation where we’re in a lot of games and we’re not quite getting over the line. In professional sport, winning games matters and it’s one of the areas we need to address,” he adds.
“There’s parts of our game that were way off in the Zebre game, but we’ve boxed off Zebre, it’s in the background. What we have taken will drive us on into the rest of the season.
“From a coaches’ point of view, we’re frustrated that our message hasn’t got across to the players in a way that they will understand. They’re the bits we’ve been going through and we have to move forward.”