Ulster in Best shape to end season on a high

Rory Best tells GERRY THORNLEYthat a little bit of Munster mentality allied to some Springbok magic has worked wonders for Ulster this year.

NOT SINCE the Harry Williams ensemble of 1999 so memorably lifted the European Cup in Lansdowne Road have Ulster faced into a post-Six Nations finale to the season in such rude health.

Eight wins in their last nine games, and five on the trot, leave them hosting the Scarlets this Friday occupying third place in the Magners League with a first Heineken Cup quarter-final in 11 years to follow nine days later.

It’s not that Ulster have been reinventing the wheel more that, according to their influential captain Rory Best, they’ve taken a leaf out of Munster’s manual in turning a late seven-point deficit such as last Friday into a win.

“I’ve watched Munster for a few years now and that’s the thing about them, they’re never beaten until the last whistle. There’s no point ignoring what is very good about other teams and there’s no doubt Munster have that.

“It’s something that we’ve been trying to instill through Brian (McLaughlin), ‘hold on a minute, the game isn’t finished until the final whistle’, whereas in the past with Ulster teams, with five minutes to go and seven points down, not only do we not win the game, but we don’t even get a losing bonus point.”

This different mentality, Best concedes, is primarily down to the injection of “quality” South African signings such as Ruan Pienaar, the Springbok scrumhalf -cum-outhalf who has landed last-ditch match-winning kicks in three of the last five wins.

“It was quite hard for him when he arrived,” reveals Best, in reference to Pienaar’s delayed, post-Tri Nations arrival at Ulster, “especially in the position he plays in. You don’t just arrive and are brilliant from the start.

“We feel there is more in Ruan. He’s obviously very well brought up, he knows how fortunate he is to have the ability he has.

“All he wants to do is use it to the best of his ability, and he’s a very nice fella to have around the team. He gets on with his job but he’s also starting to come into his own now, and you hear him a lot more around the team room and the gym now.”

No less than the Leinster and Munster contingent, the Ulster players returned with a feel-good factor from the Six Nations.

“Similarly to last year we won three and lost two, but 12 months ago the feeling after that Scotland game was utter despair and you couldn’t get out of there quick enough, whereas coming off the back of that game (against England) it’s given everyone a lift, especially with three of the provinces winning away last weekend.”

What clicked against England?

“We talked about it all week, that technically this was one of the best Ireland teams ever, but maybe we forgot what it is unique about Ireland, and wearing your heart on your sleeve, and that if we could combine the two we would be a hard team to beat.”

McLaughlin, who recently signed a contract extension as Ulster coach, yesterday welcomed back Ian Humphreys and BJ Botha to a 35-man squad for Friday’s penultimate home league game of the campaign.

Ulster’s Euro quarter-final against Northampton looms as a potential distraction, but in the context of the play-offs, this Friday is a proverbial eight-pointer, given the Scarlets are five points adrift of Ulster in sixth place.

“The home games are vital,” says Best. “It’s going to be very tricky to go to Dublin, especially with the short turnaround after the Heineken Cup game. So to go on to that Heineken game off the back of a win would leave us with a wee bit of destiny in our own hands.”

ULSTER SQUAD: Forwards: J Cronin, D Fitzpatrick, T Court, BJ Botha, P McAllister, B Young, R Best, N Brady, A Kyriacou, R Caldwell, D Tuohy, J Muller, T Barker, P Wannenburg, TJ Anderson, W Faloon, C Henry, R Diack. Backs: R Pienaar, P Marshall, I Humphreys, N O'Connor, I Whitten, N Spence, P Wallace, D Cave, M McCrea, A Trimble, S Danielli, T Seymour, C Gilroy, C Gaston, D McIlwaine, J Smith, A D'Arcy.

Ferris out of Northampton tie

STEPHEN FERRIS has been ruled out of Ulster's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Northampton on Sunday week after suffering another setback in training over the weekend which led to him being re-assessed by a surgeon yesterday.

Ferris underwent arthroscopic surgery yesterday in the hope that this procedure will lead to a definitive diagnosis and prognosis for a return to action, but for the moment a return date for the Ireland and Lions flanker remains unclear.