Ulster Rugby RaboDirect Pro12 Final – Very Different Game Compared to Last Years Heineken Cup Final

Walking away knowing that the margin from last year has been cut to 6 points! An enthralling game that came completely down to the wire. This experience of a final is still knew to us. We are learning how to behave in the week leading up to the final. Experiencing the sort of anti climactic vacuum of the days before it. Its a massive learning curve for everyone and we played good rugby! What do you fill that vacuum with, how do you handle it, this is a new experience and having now progressed in that experience and not been beaten by it, but to have performed well with a players confidence in themselves and moving from a fear of failure or success to the simple and ruthless application of the basics and raising the tempo and coping in defence and re organising and applying all the automatic responses to situations, reading the plays, growing with the experience and not even being too concerned about the opposition winning but instead focusing on where are we going, what is next, lets improve some more, lets position ourselves over the summer to bring a next new dimension.

This game is about players scoring tries and penalties and conversions, and each and every single moment of competitiveness. Each rugby, lineoute, scrum, each mistake, each bounce of the ball for or against is met with organisation, organisation, reaction, defence, attack, always focusing on the game at hand. We are doing that and we are going to get better at it!

This game is about practicing and then perfecting the application of the basics in attack and defence in the game.

Success and failure are not down to the bounce of the ball or the referee success and failure are down to the supremely oiled engine-like application of the basics of the game. Nothing can be taken for granted and today we come home knowing that we are moving forward but remaining grounded in the basics.