Excited Allen Clarke believes ‘real Ulster’ now emerging after trouncing Toulouse

Ulster’s assistant coach Allen Clarke tasted European Cup triumph with his native province in 1999, and 16 years later he is hugely enthusiastic about the current squad.

The 38-0 Champions Cup win over Toulouse sent a shockwave through the competition, but the man charged with organising the forwards wasn’t surprised. Clarke believes the outstanding performance at the Kingspan had been fermenting, and in Pro12 games against Leinster and against Edinburgh glimpses of “the real Ulster” had emerged. “It hasn’t been difficult to keep a lid on the excitement we all shared last weekend, because we recognised that there were still many things we need to do better.

“What we have seen as a coaching group is the integration of the work in the scrum, for instance, with the needs of the backline. On Friday we defended really well, and we took our scoring chances. That was a win for the collective, not just one unit, one part of the side.