Assistant coach Dan Soper admits Ulster haven’t progressed in the way that they were hoping this season but believes a run of good results could turn things around for the province.
Ulster are reeling off the back of their heaviest European defeat in the professional era, losing 61-21 to defending European champions Toulouse in France on Sunday, and things don’t get any easier as they welcome Bordeaux-Begles, currently second in the Top14, to Ravenhill for their second Champions Cup pool fixture on Saturday.
It has been a tough start to the season for Richie Murphy’s men, who have won just three of their opening seven games in the United Rugby Championship and would face a mountain to climb to reach the Champions Cup knockouts if they lose this weekend.
Dan Soper believes Ulster can gain some momentum
However, Soper is confident that mindset can change if they can beat the Frenchmen on Saturday before a run of crucial inter-provincial URC clashes against Munster and Connacht over the festive period.
“We’re probably a wee bit short of where we wanted to have been, especially those last few URC losses — they are two games we’d like to have again and have another crack at,” admitted the assistant coach.
“There’s different things impacting on that at the minute, every team goes through it — we’re a bit banged up in the backs at the moment, which is putting a lot of load into the guys who are available, which isn’t ideal.
“We’re making progress but we need to get results. At the end of the day it’s the business we’re in and we’re not where we want to be.
“But we have a run of games where we can very quickly turn the feeling of what the season looks like for us and for everyone outside as well with a couple of big results over the next three weeks.”
John Cooney could be back for the clash with Bordeaux, but Ben Carson and Stewart Moore are doubts.