Ulster's game management cost them against Leinster

Leinster and Ulster served up a tight interprovincial derby, but it was far from the contest that was expected given the weather conditions in the Kingspan stadium in Belfast.

Gary Ringrose referenced the Ulster entries and access into the Leinster half which saw them make a second half surge and if it weren't for a slightly fortunate, yet attitudinally exceptional intervention from Charlie Ngatai, the Ulster momentum may well have led to a third victory in the last three outings between the sides.

However, Leinster stood firm and managed the conditions just enough to win an all-important interprovencial derby that has put them back in the ascendency in the Irish rugby rankings.

Usually, it is the coach and not the captain that speaks of entries and access. Players are very much focused on the moment in front of their face and rarely think about a sequence of plays that result in scores. They might think about how they could have defended a set piece differently, whereas the coach will potentially look at how the set piece came to light and how their team ended up in their half in the first place.

This is the role of the coach versus the player. Some tactically astute players can develop their thinking towards the helicopter view that a coach has, but that can be the great difference between a coaches thoughts and the thoughts of the player.

When transitioning from player to coach, this is certainly something I had to become more aware of, the sequence of events leading to an opportunity in attack or defence. Despite playing as an out-half and learning more about game management, it was coaching that really developed this part of my thought process, as I’m sure it does for many other players transitioning to coaching.

But what