Neil Doak staying calm as Ulster ready to get back on track

Ulster head coach Neil Doak said that there is no panic in the ranks despite the province dropping to its lowest position in the Celtic League for over a decade.

Sitting in seventh slot, just below Edinburgh, this Friday night’s opponents at the Kingspan Stadium, Ulster are staring at a Connacht, Munster, and Leinster one-two-three at the top of the Guinness Pro12, but Doak is adamant that things will sort themselves out.

“Obviously the last two games haven’t gone the way we wanted. We knew Europe was going to be difficult. Against Leinster, I suspect both teams didn’t play to their full potential,” explained Doak.

“I know these derby games are tight with the 8-3 scoreline reflecting that. But there were four or five chances on both fronts, but Leinster converted two and we just managed the one.

“So that contributed to the low score, particularly with the defences being pretty decent that day. It was a difficult game to play in with the wind, although it may not have looked that way on television, it was very blustery,” explained Doak.

“With the league being so tight and so competitive now, it is difficult. With the World Cup at the start of the competition, there was obviously teams who capitalised on that and pushed them right up to the top of the pile. Mind you we are not that far off position-wise, and it is still early in the season. It is certainly not doom and gloom at the moment.

“It’s all about small margins and at the moment they falling on the wrong side for us, so we have to change that come Friday when we hope to get to winnings ways.”

Doak expects a very physical game against Edinburgh tomorrow night in Belfast. “They’re a strong team. They’ve beaten us twice this season, once in a pre-season friendly, so obviously we know how good they can be under Alan Solomons. They are a very physical side, work hard for each other and Solly has done a great job there. We are certainly under no illusions that this game on Friday will not be easy.”

Doak is happy with the change of date for the postponed Champions Cup opener in France, now to be played on the weekend of January 8, but it did mean having to change tack on player management.

“We are happy enough with the change. With the fixture list this season it doesn’t really matter who we play there are no breaks from tough games. It just adds to grist. The knock-on is that there were plans in place to look after players who are potentially going to be away on Six Nations duty. So playing in January has put a spanner in the works regarding rotation and such like.”

With that in mind, Ulster may rest skipper Rory Best for the Edinburgh visit, and give the captaincy to his efficient replacement Rob Herring who yesterday signed a two-year extension to his contract to remain at Ravenhill until 2018.

The arrival of Les Kiss as director of rugby has eased some of the burden on Doak.

“Obviously it is another set of hands on board. Les’s experience is massive to the group as a whole, but the goal is the same fro everybody’s point of view in that we want to win games.”