ULSTER CAPTAIN IAIN Henderson has vowed to put the province back on track this season.
The 33-year-old is adamant there will be no repeat of the previous URC campaign, when the squad hit a new low point by finishing two off the bottom, as he stressed the importance of building for the future instead of dwelling on the past.
“The inconsistencies weren’t only in performance,” he said.
“It was a night-and-day performance, for not knowing who was in the teams, you would think there were two different teams. However, that’s irrelevant now and that feels irrelevant for what we’ve been doing this pre-season.
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“Where the guys have got to and the way we’re looking to play now, it feels like it’s so much better drilled into us and feels on the pitch like we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
Henderson was speaking ahead of the opening round clash with the Dragons at Affidea Stadium. Richie Murphy’s side have a new attack coach in Mark Sexton, as well as Willie Faloon who came in midway through last season to work with the defence, and Henderson reckons the development of the squad has been aided by some of the struggles they have gone through together.
“I’m excited about Friday to see that and I’m excited about how we can put that on and that’ll hopefully springboard some of our potential,” Henderson said.
“I think there’s a maturity element to it too.
“I can see guys like James Hume, Tom O’Toole, Michael Lowry, Ethan McIlroy, Nick Timoney, all those guys, who wrongfully I still call the young guys, but this club is theirs and you can see them hurting when things don’t go right and wanting to put it right.
“I’m starting to enjoy seeing them grabbing the bull by the horns or really grabbing this club and trying to make it their own club. That’s been a huge change for me, a huge shift for me this season.
“And having the coaching staff in, Willie coming in being proper full-time now, Mark coming in, Richie being able to have real faith in those guys to implement his plan, along with
Jimmy (Duffy) and Dan Soper’s in the background there too, that’s been great.”
“We’ve been building into this first game, and this back end of pre-season has been a real focus of ours to make sure that we’re going to hit the ground running with this home game against Dragons.
“The pre-season we’ve had, the growth we’ve seen in-house has been great, the next stage is games.”
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'You can see them hurting when things don't go right' - Ulster maturing through the pain
ULSTER CAPTAIN IAIN Henderson has vowed to put the province back on track this season.
The 33-year-old is adamant there will be no repeat of the previous URC campaign, when the squad hit a new low point by finishing two off the bottom, as he stressed the importance of building for the future instead of dwelling on the past.
“The inconsistencies weren’t only in performance,” he said.
“It was a night-and-day performance, for not knowing who was in the teams, you would think there were two different teams. However, that’s irrelevant now and that feels irrelevant for what we’ve been doing this pre-season.
“Where the guys have got to and the way we’re looking to play now, it feels like it’s so much better drilled into us and feels on the pitch like we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
Henderson was speaking ahead of the opening round clash with the Dragons at Affidea Stadium. Richie Murphy’s side have a new attack coach in Mark Sexton, as well as Willie Faloon who came in midway through last season to work with the defence, and Henderson reckons the development of the squad has been aided by some of the struggles they have gone through together.
“I’m excited about Friday to see that and I’m excited about how we can put that on and that’ll hopefully springboard some of our potential,” Henderson said.
“I think there’s a maturity element to it too.
“I can see guys like James Hume, Tom O’Toole, Michael Lowry, Ethan McIlroy, Nick Timoney, all those guys, who wrongfully I still call the young guys, but this club is theirs and you can see them hurting when things don’t go right and wanting to put it right.
“I’m starting to enjoy seeing them grabbing the bull by the horns or really grabbing this club and trying to make it their own club. That’s been a huge change for me, a huge shift for me this season.
“And having the coaching staff in, Willie coming in being proper full-time now, Mark coming in, Richie being able to have real faith in those guys to implement his plan, along with
Jimmy (Duffy) and Dan Soper’s in the background there too, that’s been great.”
“We’ve been building into this first game, and this back end of pre-season has been a real focus of ours to make sure that we’re going to hit the ground running with this home game against Dragons.
“The pre-season we’ve had, the growth we’ve seen in-house has been great, the next stage is games.”
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Iain Henderson Positive Ulster