THERE IS NO disguising the feelgood factor at Ulster, and Mark Sexton’s impact on the province’s cutting edge in attack has played a key part.

Tries are being scored and wins are being chalked off. Ulster sit third in the URC and having topped their pool in the European Challenge Cup to bring knockout rugby to Belfast in April.

All this in Sexton’s first season after leaving Connacht to reunite with Richie Murphy having worked with him at Ireland U20s. Ulster are currently flying and though Sexton signed on for just one season, it would seem that a priority for Rory Best would be to retain their attack coach for somewhat longer.

“I’m on a one-year contract,” Sexton said. “I’d love to stay and we’re currently working through that,” he added, and it is believed that he and the entire coaching ticket at Ulster are going to be handed extensions to continue the good work.

As Ulster prepare for a return to URC action at the struggling Scarlets, Sexton remains hopeful that the province’s form may yet be reflected in Andy Farrell’s planning for the Six Nations.

“We’d love it if more guys got picked,” he pointed out. “But if they don’t, we’ve just got to keep getting better and we’ve got to keep winning. Leinster have a knack of winning most weeks, and that’s why they have such a large representation (with Ireland).

“So, if our numbers (in the squad) don’t change, we’re going to just have to keep on getting better.”

Regarding Ulster’s attacking structure, Sexton explained that there is an element of playing the pictures that develop at any given moment in addition to an oft-tweaked structure.

“Whatever you see, go for it,” Sexton states. “We’re not too focused on the outcome, we’re focused on the decision-making process. We want everybody to go for everything, both defensively and offensively. That’s been something we’ve talked about a lot, attacking the game each week.

“We would change our playbook every week,” he maintains. “We look at our attack based on what the defence is showing. So, although we have a structure and a framework from our phase attack, our launch attack would change each week.

“And then, you know, you also look to make slight adjustments to your phase attack each week. We want to keep getting the individuals better and I think that’s really important.”