Honeymoon over quickly for Les Kiss as pressure all on Ulster

New Ulster coach Les Kiss accepts the pressure is on his side to deliver victory in their Champions Cup opener away to French side Oyonnax on Saturday.

This is the hosts’ first-top flight game in elite European competition and Kiss knows how vital a win will be given the challenge posed by Pool One’s other big guns— Saracens and Toulouse.

“It scares me, in a way,” laughed Kiss of the challenge this weekend. “Oyonnax fought hard to get into Europe last year.

“They were exceptional at home on a 3G pitch, and they would like nothing more than to say their first ever tilt at European level was a victory. So that’s what scares me, they will be right up for it.

“But that’s what you have to embrace, its part of the game and it offers up opportunities to see how your character stands up to it. We are looking forward to it, but we are very wary that it will take a big, big performance to get that win,” said Kiss who has been preparing his squad on the 3G pitch at the back of Ravenhill this week.

“We had a full session on Tuesday on the pitch with the kickers practising yesterday as well. We’ve used that pitch regularly, and it’s nice to have that option there. They play on a 3G at home, then go away and play on grass and they are a little bit up and down. But they are very comfortable on that home pitch. Even the ball seems to travel further that most other pitches. That’s because you can get a clean strike and extra elevation might give you an extra five or eight metres in the air.

“On those pitches it becomes a quicker game, and you need to be sure of you footing. You can see when they play on it, their power men gain their purchase and power over the ground quickly and get their momentum quickly, and they have some powerful boys in that team.

“It depends on how you are prepared to meet that challenge. Collisions are going to happen that little bit quicker so you have to be prepared for that,” said Kiss, who will welcome back Andrew Trimble (ankle), Louis Ludik (knee), Nick Williams (hamstring), Luke Marshall (hand) and Roger Wilson (concussion) from the treatment room.

Kiss has had little time to get his feet under the table since taking up the role a fortnight ago. “What I’ve tried to do is to integrate as much as possible of what we have built so far. Obviously, I’ve introduced a few points of difference over the past two weeks. I’ve backed what the boys have already prepared throughout the season.

“They’ve done a nice job and they are in a good place, but it’s just me getting in and annoyingly shifting things round the way I like it. In terms of that, I don’t think any coach would be happy and I know it’s only two weeks in, I accept what it is and I will continue to make adaptations as I feel necessary, but I’m happy where we are at this stage.”