Rugby

Ulster jostle for playoff place with no leeway for slip-ups

Rob Herring, Kieran Treadwell and Stewart Moore back from injury for the visit to Parc y Scarlets

For Saturday’s must-win game against Scarlets, Ulster will have Rob Herring back from injury. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
For Saturday’s must-win game against Scarlets, Ulster will have Rob Herring back from injury. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Michael Sadlier
Wed May 08 2024 - 06:00

Just three rounds to go in the regular URC season and even though Ulster are coming off two straight victories, there is still no leeway for slip-ups as the jostling for playoff places intensifies.

The northern province head to Scarlets this weekend with five points their intended goal against a team who, even with former Ulster employees Dwayne Peel and Jared Payne on the coaching ticket, have been in dire form, having won just three URC games all season.

Interim head coach Richie Murphy’s squad need to gather up all that is available to them ahead of wrapping up the regular campaign with two interpros, home to Leinster, albeit the week before their Champions Cup final, and then away at Munster on June 1st.

Things are shaping up for a scramble of a finish as just two points now separate Edinburgh, who are outside the playoff places in ninth from fifth-placed Stormers, with Ulster now seventh but on equal points (44) with Benetton and Connacht.

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Of course, finishing eighth, though ensuring a knock-out tie at whoever tops the table, might yet be one to avoid as it could come with the rather unwanted baggage of not making next season’s Champions Cup should the Sharks beat Gloucester in the forthcoming Challenge Cup final.

For this weekend’s must-win, Ulster will have Rob Herring, Kieran Treadwell and Stewart Moore back from injury for the visit to Parc y Scarlets and could also have Nick Timoney, who along with Herring and Moore has been out since last month’s heavy defeat in the Challenge Cup quarter-final at Clermont.

Jacob Stockdale is also available after undergoing return-to-play protocols in the wake of Ulster’s previous match, the victory over Benetton on the last weekend of April.

However, there is still no sign of skipper Iain Henderson having recovered from the toe issue, which he also shipped at Stade Marcel Michelin, while James Hume’s season is officially over as he now requires ACL surgery.

“It’s incredibly tight for that top eight, and it might be a top-seven [finish required for European qualification] if the Sharks continue on their way,” said Ulster assistant coach Dan Soper.

“Of course, it’s important to qualify for Europe [Champions Cup], that’s the competition you want to be in next season,” he added. “But one game at a time.

“All we can do is win the next match, and the one after that, and hopefully the one after that. If we do that then hopefully, we’ll have ourselves in the top seven.

“A lot of it is out of our control because the other results will also determine where we finish, but we can control how we perform and hopefully get results.”

In terms of improving under Murphy’s watch, Soper pointed out that work being done in training delivered more effectively last time out against the Italians.

“We kept the ball a lot better against Benetton than we did the week before against Cardiff and our completion rate went up significantly which led to us scoring more points, which is important because we’re leaking more points than we would like. We’re working pretty hard on that [defence] as well.

“It’s been a curvy road we’ve been on, hasn’t it? Throughout the season we’ve had some days we’ve been very disappointed with, but Richie has set up a few new ways of training, and we’ve seen an improvement in how we train and a lot of the stats on the attack side of the ball are trending the right way.

“Have we turned a corner? There’s a few more turns to come, I’d suggest.”

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