Whatever feel-good factor Ulster may have leant on from the narrow defeat to a full-on Queensland Reds in last week’s friendly will have been somewhat offset by new issues facing them ahead of their forthcoming URC game at Benetton on Saturday.
Not that it is by any means all bad as Ulster do at least have Tom O’Toole back from his six-game suspension, the trio of James Hume, Jacob Stockdale and Stuart McCloskey all good to go again after their outings against the Australians as well as some likely combination of Iain Henderson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Rob Herring released back from Ireland.
All fine, there are front-row problems for Richie Murphy to sort out with a lack of frontline loosehead props looking like the Ulster coach will have to shift things about while delving into the province’s depth chart to fill the void.
With both Eric O’Sullivan (knee) and Andrew Warwick (ankle) having shipped these injuries last Friday evening, Ulster are now likely to turn towards 20-year-old Academy prop Jacob Boyd on that side of the scrum to make his competitive debut while the returning O’Toole could be deployed on that side as well as long as Scott Wilson is good to go against the Italians on the tighthead side where either Corrie Barrett or Bryan O’Connor could also be involved.
So, it appears as if some juggling may have to be done before facing Benetton who though expected to be quite light when it comes to their hefty input into Italy’s Six Nations squad will still be expected to produce a fairly strong selection particularly up front.
At least O’Toole is available for deployment following his red card and ban for what was ruled to be a dangerous clear out on Alex Nankivell during December’s home defeat by Munster.
“Great to have him back again,” said Ulster assistant coach Jimmy Duffy.
“He (O’Toole) had been making great strides for us and improving.
“He’s still quite a young man and you forget the fact as he has played for Ireland but unfortunately he’s had that lay-off period and he’s working around the group and stepping into that leadership role within the group so he’s emerging from the crowd as a really positive player for us on and off the pitch.”
Hooker Tom Stewart is also a doubt after he picked up a hamstring issue against Les Kiss’ Super Rugby squad, but this might be offset by Herring being potentially released from Ireland camp as well as having John Andrew and James McCormick available.
Having O’Toole, Stockdale, McCloskey and Hume — the latter having been out the longest due to his ACL injury which struck him down last April — has been a huge bonus admitted Duffy and something which has driven Ulster forward as they bid to break into the URC’s top eight from their current position of ninth in the table.
“They have been electric in training,” said the forwards coach.
“And it’s been a joy to watch them as it raises the standards in everything, internationals returning all competitive and they want to win.
“It’s gives everyone a big lift knowing they are back in.”
Turning to the Queensland game, played against opposition familiar to Duffy after his sojourn at Western Force, the Perth-based Australian Super Rugby franchise, he maintained that Ulster, despite the casualty list, have taken much from their performance — they ended up losing 38-31 — which can now hopefully be channelled towards this weekend in Treviso.
“With some of the young players who featured in the back end of that game (against the Reds) it was massive, and I believe they had 13 Wallabies in the crew.
“For our lads to almost to snatch that draw was positive, we would obviously have liked to win but there are a lot of young guys getting a lot of minutes and it can be a challenge sometimes but there are a lot of up-shoots in that group.”
And how Ulster could do with a result particularly in the wake of their shock defeat at home to the League’s other Italian franchise Zebre, an outcome which hit a new low even in a season already scarred by fixtures which have ended badly for Murphy’s squad.
With just two points separating Edinburgh in eighth place in the URC table from the Ospreys who are 12th — Ulster sit ninth and Benetton 11th though both are on 23 points, just one point off the Scottish capital’s team — there is considerable congestion in the scramble to ultimately make the play-off positions.
So, getting a result at the weekend is imperative, though Duffy was not for reckoning that this will be anything other than another huge challenge.
“They (Benetton) have always had a very strong scrum and maul and they’ve threats in the midfield with Malakai Fekitoa and Rhyno Smith they are a strong team and have been for a number of years,” he said.
“So, we’ll have to be across it to be on the money this weekend.
“They are a quality side, we know they are a quality side and we’re just focusing on ourselves as much as we possibly can to make sure we’re in a good place, mentally and physically to perform.”