Ciaran Donaghy.
Ulster’s Cormac Izuchukwu scores a try against Ospreys on Saturday at Ravenhill. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Wire)
Ireland lock Cormac Izuchukwu insists results matter more than performances at this stage of the season after Ulster scraped past the Ospreys at Ravenhill on Saturday in the European Challenge Cup.
Richie Murphy’s side were aided by the intervention of the TMO disallowing a try for their Welsh opponents with two minutes remaining, which would have clinched victory for the Ospreys, as the province set up a European Challenge Cup quarter-final against La Rochelle.
Against the Ospreys Ulster conceded 12 turnovers, missed 21 tackles, gave away 14 penalties, had only a 75% success rate on their own throw at the lineout and had less possession than their opponents, but still managed to win 28-24.
Izuchukwu said: “It’s black and white, you can touch on the fact that we didn’t play great rugby against the Ospreys, but this part of the season is about wins. We won, so that’s everything and then can we win again next week? Regardless of how well or poorly can we play, a win is a win, and if you lose, you’re out, so it’s massive. It’s all about winning really.”
Ulster are now three games away in the Challenge Cup from ending their 20-year trophy drought but Izuchukwu believes the current crop of players are weighted down by the baggage of history.
“It’s not something we touch on massively, no,” he said. “I think with Richie [Murphy, head coach] we really try to focus on ourselves, and going forward, what’s our next challenge. Obviously we’re playing the Challenge Cup, we want to win the Challenge Cup.
“We don’t really speak too much about winning it openly. I think every player, obviously, when you’re sitting down and you’re preparing for the game on a Monday, that’s on your mind, you know, ‘I want to win something, I want to be part of history here’, but again, as I said, it’s just kind of [about] preparing.
“I don’t want to make it sound silly, but preparing week to week, and just winning every game.”
If Ulster go all the way in Europe and domestically in the URC, they could potentially have 10 games remaining this season, but Izuchukwu feels they have the squad depth to cope.
He added: “I’ve missed so many games this year from injuries, you can’t avoid them, it’s the sport we’re in. “It’s unfortunate the season is so long, and the game is so physical that injuries are going to happen, but I think that we’ve got good depth there: boys like Charlie Irvine and stuff, Conor McKee, there’s lads there. We’ve got so many back-three players as well, knocking around.
“We’ve got Mikey (Lowry) to come back in, Jack (Murphy )didn’t start this week, Ben Carson there; we’ve got loads of lads that are ready to step up, if they’re called upon, and they’ve played well before and I’m sure they’ll play well again”.
“So I think that’s part of being a good team, is that we have depth, I think this year for the first time we’ve had actual genuine depth throughout the team.”
Ulster lost Angus Bell, Sam Crean and Rob Herring to injury in the Ospreys game and their squad depth will be tested by a physical La Rochelle side.
Izuchukwu said: “They have got loads of guys there throughout the squad that are really physical, I think that’s how France play, and I think for us, again, it’s just about stepping up and doing our job.
“We were a bit defensive in the first half against the Ospreys, probably weren’t as focused on our chop tackle; we’re trying to get the ball back too early, but I think we’ll have a review and we’ll touch on that, and we’ll fix that up and then we’ll be ready to go again”.
“We obviously want to get the ball back as quick as we can, but it’s about how we do that smartly.”