ULSTER ARE EXPECTING the best from themselves and prepared for the best of Oyonnax as they head in to another Champions Cup season.
The tournament debutants are likely to put their best, most abrasive foot forward when they raise the curtain at Stade Charles-Mathon at lunchtime on Saturday. So Ulster’s bid to continue their decent run of form on French soil may prove more difficult than a quick glance at the Pro12 and Top14 tables.
The Alpine club hover just a point above the foot of the table having beaten only Pau and Bordeaux in their eight Top14 fixtures. Speaking to The42 today, back row Robbie Diack preferred to look on the more impressive side of their recent history.
“Look at their record from last year. You don’t get a playoff in the Top14 for nothing, they had a great season and have a great squad. They’ve built on that and we know how difficult it’s going to be this year.”
The fresh bricks in that bolstered group include Irish centre Eamonn Sheridan, former Connacht wing Fetu’u Vainikolo, Piri Weepu and England’s George Robson steps in to replace the retired Damian Browne.
And there’s another strong Irish connection in the form of Diack’s former team-mate, Pedrie Wannenburg. Texts have been exchanged, but rugby specifics were not on the agenda, so Diack hasn’t sought his compatriot’s insight to figure out what may be missing from Oyonnax’s success story this time around.
Saturday will be the first of two visits to France in just over five weeks for Ulster. So with the Christmas crackers against Toulouse up ahead, this weekend would be the ideal time to lay down another marker in France.
It is almost three years since Ulster recorded their first win in France. While Oyonnax were on their way to the Pro D2 title, Wannenburg and Diack started on opposing sides in Castres. The man who turns 30 tomorrow remembers it well.
“Johann (Muller) was out injured and I had to call the line-outs for that game,” says Diack.
To go over there and beat Castres in their own back yard was a fantastic occasion for us, because as a squad we knew how tough it was. Playing French teams in their own back yard is always going to be physical, always going to be tough and confrontational especially for the forwards.
“We know we have to take ourselves to a dark place to perform to the best of our abilities.
“I think we did that away to Montpellier the following year as well, and we take massive confidence from those two games, especially for the game this weekend.”
Solidity
Though the run of wins on French soil ended at two owing to last season’s trip to Toulon, the journey across the channel is certainly one that no longer daunts the northern province.
Confidence was a key word through out our chat with Diack. Not just confidence from historical wins, but also from the restored feeling of permanence among the coaching ticket and the ending of a losing streak away from home.
Diack points out that the location of the win was even more satisfying than ending the five-game losing run outside of Belfast. Though the Dragons flung a late onslaught at the new Les Kiss defence, the white wall held firm to claim just their third Rodney Parade win in eight years.
“To keep the Dragons out, especially between the 75th and 80th minute was fantastic, a huge confidence booster going forward,” says Diack.
Les has come in and done a fantastic job so far. He’s obviously pin-pointed areas where we needed to improve on and I think defence is (one of them).
“We’re lucky to have two great defence coaches in Les and Joe Barakat, we can pick their brains and gaining as much as possible from them has been fantastic for the squad. I think we put that on the field the other evening.
