Ulster could see the benefit of South African trip

Ulster earned a losing bonus point away to the Stormers last weekend in a performance that ran out of steam towards the end of the third quarter.

One point from ten won't sound like a great return, however, a trip to South Africa could be just what Ulster needed at this time of the year.

With a lot of changes going on at Ulster, interim coach, Richie Murphy, has been tasked with steadying the ship for the Northern province. You couldn’t pick a better time for an extended group to go away for ten days together to lay down some of the foundations and expectations for the rest of the season under a well-respected coach like Murphy.

Extra team activities, paired with longer travel time and the potential for an extra meeting or two would have come at the right time for any coach trying to put their stamp on a group.

The hard-earned point, though it sounds like little, came from a dominant opening half of rugby and has allowed Ulster to stay in the play-off positions in the league, returning home to a couple of 'so-called’ easier fixtures to claim some points and try to climb the league table.

Munster and Leinster will both travel to South Africa after the next round of the Champions Cup, whereas Ulster will be at home in the next two rounds against Cardiff and Benetton before travelling to Scarlets. I’m sure that they’ll be confident of getting at least two wins there, a full house could completely transform their season.

With respect to Ulster, they didn’t turn into a bad team overnight. They beat both Connacht and Leinster during the New Year’s interprovincial period, before falling foul to erratic inconsistencies in their performances.

The talent in Ulster is as good as any team and last weekend we saw sparks of confidence