The physicality was expected, all part and parcel of James McNabney’s DNA, but what wasn’t exactly anticipated was the sight of the back-rower hoofing the ball towards the safety of touch when collecting it behind his own try line.
It proved to be a crucial moment in the game as Ulster, under siege and trailing 25-23 in the final quarter, unexpectedly snaffled the ball just as the visitors appeared to be going for the jugular for a guaranteed seven points, with McNabney making a quick decision to send the ball flying into the night sky.
“The last time I kicked the ball was when I was playing for Cambridge House,” the 22-year-old – who has recently been in Ireland Six Nations camp – admitted.
“The coach said, ‘I think you should just keep it in your hands and not bother kicking it’, and I don’t know if I’ll do it again, but it was just what happened.”
Ulster’s James McNabney looks to escape the attention of his Scarlets counterpart Dan Davis
Richie Murphy may well invite McNabney to follow the advice of his school coach but, overall, what mattered was Ulster got this job done, even though it was rather late in the day.
McNabney’s summation was delivered in his usual direct way, akin to how he plays the game.
“That game was absolutely crucial for us,” he added.
“We needed that win to salvage whatever we can from our season.
“It hasn’t gone our way, the season hasn’t gone to plan, but we think there’s a chance we can salvage something out of this.
“We’re not in too good a spot in the table, obviously, but we can still do it.
“It’s still within reach and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Ulster’s James McNabney with the Player of the Match award after his side’s win over the Scarlets
Warming to the subject, particularly after an impressive personal performance, McNabney continued by providing some definition over how the squad have been coping with what has been a disappointing season and the intention of standing up to the challenge and battling back.
“Heart,” he pointed out. “It’s all about the heart. When you keep getting beaten, you can’t shy away from it.
“You either ruin your season or you stand up to the fight, and I think that’s what we did here.
“You have to keep at it, there’s no option. Your back is against the wall and every fixture is important.”
Strong words, and he continued in the same vein, pointing out that in the build-up, they had talked about having to put everything out there for this home tie.
“We talked all week that we needed to go out with belief, that we all needed to go out and play,” he explained.
“The start of the game wasn’t the way we intended it to go, but the lads believed that we could get ourselves back in that.”
Indeed, going 12-0 down was the absolute antithesis of what Ulster had intended, but McNabney reckoned that this just fired up the hosts even more to dig deep and find their way back.
“It was early in the game,” he stated of the 12-point deficit. “We still had plenty of time.
“That wasn’t what we intended, but they were probably lucky with the bounce of the ball at the start.
“It caught us off guard,” he added of the two early tries. “Maybe that was something they went after. It was tough, but we knew we had the belief to get something out of it.”
As for his own efforts – he made 11 carries in the game – McNabney accepted that he was heavily involved but still recalled one error.
“A good few,” he said of his ball-carrying. “Dropped the ball on one, which was disappointing.
“I was running into brick walls at times. But I got a bit of gainline and enjoyed it.
“I can only do as good as I can for the team.
“That’s what we’re after, everyone buying into the process and keeping at it.
“It’s not easy and it’s not pretty, but that’s rugby.”