ON THE SURFACE, Ulster losing three of their last five games has been far from the ideal preparation for the step up to Champions Cup rugby and this weekend’s trip to face an in-form Bath side at the Recreation Ground.
Indeed, preparation has been the hot topic when it comes to the northern province this week.
After head coach Dan McFarland criticised the levels in training prior to their loss against Edinburgh last time out, saying that the coaches had to “push better standards, better accuracy”, there has naturally been an interest in the squad’s response.
Lock Kieran Treadwwell was equally forthright in the aftermath of that inaccurate home reverse, while it has been said that fellow second-row Alan O’Connor privately addressed the squad on a similar theme in the changing room.
“There is definitely a responsibility on both sides and we are not stepping away from that,” said the side’s winger Robert Baloucoune when asked about McFarland’s comments.
“I think it was on the Tuesday session (last week) that we knew we weren’t good enough.
“You try to see that in a training session so you don’t lose time. It is being able to gather ourselves together, come together as a group, that allows us to switch (back) on.
“The Thursday session was a lot better but it’s about not missing that time because we only get so little (training) time anyway. It is just being on top of it from the very start and having all your detail and stuff ready to go.”
Having won four of their first five URC games, albeit with each victory having come by narrow margins, back-to-back losses to Scottish opposition have sapped the side of momentum approaching a key run of four Champions Cup games and two interpros in the space of seven weeks.
“I think we are all disappointed with our own performances,” admitted Baloucoune, who at least got over for his first try since March against Edinburgh, helping the side to two bonus-points in defeat,
“We’ll go through it with the coaches and judge what we can do better.
“It is tough. We have spoken about it and had meetings and we’ll try to see what we can do this week.
“We knew it was going to be tough coming in and we have all had to take responsibility for it. It’s not easy.
“We didn’t go in with what we spoke about last week, and we went through that in the meeting, so it is just trying to stick to the plan and enforcing that better at the weekend.”
In contrast, despite also having lost three games this season, the mood in Bath seems wholly positive. Second in the Premiership after last weekend’s big win over Exeter, Johann van Graan’s side have been buoyed by the summer addition of Scottish fly-half Finn Russell and will be expecting to improve upon a poor recent European record that has seen them advance to the knock-outs just once since 2009.
“(They’re a) really strong side,” added Baloucoune. “They are doing well in the Premiership so we know the challenge that is ahead.
“Obviously they have a few players that we need to watch out for.
“But it’s an exciting time as well. We are always excited to play in the European Cup, we have played some of the top teams over the last few years and came out of the good side of that as well.
“We’ll definitely be going into this week knowing the challenge ahead but also looking forward to it and what we can bring”
