Ulster Head Coach Neil Doak not panicking about Pro12 position
Last updated on .From the section Irish Rugby
| Pro12: Ulster v Edinburgh |
|---|
| Venue: Kingspan Stadium Date: Friday, 4 December Kick-off: 19:35 GMT |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Two Northern Ireland and the BBC Sport website |
Ulster Head Coach Neil Doak says he is not overly concerned about the Irish province's seventh place in the Pro12 standings at this stage of the season.
Ulster have won four and lost four of their opening eight league fixtures ahead of Friday's visit of sixth-placed Edinburgh to the Kingspan Stadium.
"It's early days and we are not looking at the table at this stage," said Doak.
"A few things have not gone our way but we have to make sure we get ourselves on a roll and record a few wins."
"The absence of players on World Cup duty put a bit of a swing on things and with the guys coming back, the postponement of our first European game (against Oyannax) didn't allow us to build those combinations," added Doak.
"We have had to look at our planning with regard to that match being rearranged for January so it's important that we bounce back with a win against Edinburgh and get ourselves back up the table."
Ulster suffered an 8-3 Pro12 defeat by Leinster at the RDS last week, following their comprehensive European Champions Cup reverse at the hands of Saracens seven days previously.
The Irish team need to finish in the top four to make the end-of-season Pro12 play-offs and the top six to ensure a place in next year's Champions Cup.
"We know that Leinster is a pretty difficult place to go and the game was pretty tight. They capitalised on two of their chances while we only capitalised once.
"It was pretty frustrating and we had difficulty playing into the wind in the second half.
"We maybe didn't use the wind wisely enough in the first half - we did a few things well but not enough to get ourselves a win."
Ulster are the second highest try-scorers in this year's competition, while Edinburgh, with whom they are level on points, have the best defensive record, having conceded just seven tries.
"Edinburgh are a physical side and when you allow them, they can play a little bit of rugby.
"They have got themselves in a pretty decent position and games are always decided by small margins against the best teams," concluded the Ulster coach.
