ZAC WARD believes that Ulster’s mobility and speed around the park can potentially help them get the right result against the Bulls in Belfast on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old winger and former Sevens star has already made a bright start to this season, having scored in the round one victory over the Dragons and created the try for Nathan Doak in the six-touchdown victory for the province.
“They are big guys and they run pretty hard and they hit pretty hard, but we’re a pretty mobile team and you move big guys around the pitch, they tire out quite easily,” said Ward of this weekend’s South African opponents.
“So that’s definitely going to be a game plan of ours going into the game, trying to move them around.
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“You offset big bodies, and you get a weak shoulder somewhere, then it makes things a little bit easier to attack from.
“I mean, you take guys’ legs away from them, they can’t really run too far.
“So, you know, they’ve got big guys and we’ll try and move them around the park, try and beat them with speed and, yeah, create a bit of space for us out wide and try and score some tries.”
Ulster had to beat a hasty retreat from Scotland last weekend after Storm Amy resulted in the postponement of their round two clash with Edinburgh, and though not exactly ideal, Ward also believes that the province will be fresher for not having played and more primed than ever to go head-to-head with last season’s beaten finalists.
“There was a bit of a scramble to get back, to try and get home before the storm came in and kind of kept us over in Edinburgh,” Ward recalls.
“It’s not ideal when you prepare for a game, but it was out of our control, and there wasn’t much we could do.
“It just gave us the next few days to rest up, and I suppose we have that over the Bulls coming over.
“They had a pretty physical game last week against Leinster. So, you know, we’re pretty well rested and ready to go and looking forward to it.”
Ward, who made his Ulster debut last December against Bordeaux-Begles, has taken to the 15-a-side game and is still embracing its learnings as well as more structured nuances.
“If I’d been playing Sevens,” he admitted of the Dragons game and his part in Nathan Doak’s try, “I probably would have tried to back myself and go into the corner, but I’m not playing Sevens anymore. I’m playing 15s, and the right option was to give it back inside to Doaky for the easier score.”
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'You move big guys around the pitch, they tire out quite easily' - Zac Ward
ZAC WARD believes that Ulster’s mobility and speed around the park can potentially help them get the right result against the Bulls in Belfast on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old winger and former Sevens star has already made a bright start to this season, having scored in the round one victory over the Dragons and created the try for Nathan Doak in the six-touchdown victory for the province.
“They are big guys and they run pretty hard and they hit pretty hard, but we’re a pretty mobile team and you move big guys around the pitch, they tire out quite easily,” said Ward of this weekend’s South African opponents.
“So that’s definitely going to be a game plan of ours going into the game, trying to move them around.
“You offset big bodies, and you get a weak shoulder somewhere, then it makes things a little bit easier to attack from.
“I mean, you take guys’ legs away from them, they can’t really run too far.
“So, you know, they’ve got big guys and we’ll try and move them around the park, try and beat them with speed and, yeah, create a bit of space for us out wide and try and score some tries.”
Ulster had to beat a hasty retreat from Scotland last weekend after Storm Amy resulted in the postponement of their round two clash with Edinburgh, and though not exactly ideal, Ward also believes that the province will be fresher for not having played and more primed than ever to go head-to-head with last season’s beaten finalists.
“There was a bit of a scramble to get back, to try and get home before the storm came in and kind of kept us over in Edinburgh,” Ward recalls.
“It’s not ideal when you prepare for a game, but it was out of our control, and there wasn’t much we could do.
“It just gave us the next few days to rest up, and I suppose we have that over the Bulls coming over.
“They had a pretty physical game last week against Leinster. So, you know, we’re pretty well rested and ready to go and looking forward to it.”
Ward, who made his Ulster debut last December against Bordeaux-Begles, has taken to the 15-a-side game and is still embracing its learnings as well as more structured nuances.
“If I’d been playing Sevens,” he admitted of the Dragons game and his part in Nathan Doak’s try, “I probably would have tried to back myself and go into the corner, but I’m not playing Sevens anymore. I’m playing 15s, and the right option was to give it back inside to Doaky for the easier score.”
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Gameplan mobility Rugby the Bulls Ulster Zac Ward