Ulster back row Iain Henderson feels that the northerners must tweak certain aspects of their game to earn victory over Munster in their crucial Pro12 clash this Saturday.
The Ulstermen defeated Leinster 26-10 at Kingspan Stadium in the last round of fixtures; however, fault lines were apparent to the squad, and must be rectified ahead of this weekend.
“We know there were some problems against Leinster; we conceded ten points in the first few minutes. When we have been beaten by Leinster before in cup finals we’ve always been the team to go out ahead and then they have come back. However, we know there are things that were wrong that we have to improve for Munster,” Henderson told RTÉ Sport.
“If we improve on those things that we’ve targeted there’s no reason that we can’t beat Munster, who like ourselves have been on a very good run of form. They’ve been playing very good rugby. We’ve just got to make sure that we get up on our game and better them.”
"I think this season we’ve got more composure and throughout the season we’ve got more consistency" - Iain Henderson
If Ulster defeat their provincial rivals, they'll move into second in the league table heading into the final round of the regular season.
A win in their round 22 game away to Glasgow would see them secure a home semi-final, which has been the province’s goal since Champions Cup elimination according Henderson.
“We’ve been saying it’s been cup final rugby for the last couple of weeks - every game counts. And since we’ve got knocked out of the European Cup, we’ve been looking to secure a home semi-final,” said Henderson.
“There’s no reason we can’t do that by beating Munster and Glasgow, and there’s no reason we can’t do that given the form we’ve been in.”
The 23-year-old was the regular second row replacement in Ireland’s victorious 2015 Six Nations campaign and he feels that experience has brought a new-found knowledge into his game.
He said: “You’re training with world-class players on a daily basis and you get to pick up their habits. The extra five, ten minutes after training that before I went into an Irish camp I wouldn’t have thought of doing.
“I could actually go and look at the Ireland back three and see how they play; just bits and pieces learning as much as you can. Also small bits and pieces on hydration and nutrition, it’s massive what you pick up from training down in Irish camp with world-class players.”
And training with the top-tier of players from the four provinces has also given him an insight into how best to play against his Ireland team-mates when they clash interprovincially in the Pro12.
“It’s definitely a very bizarre thing playing the lads and you do contemplate that. You’ve got together for two months and then a few months later you’ve got to come back out of it and go head-to-head with them,” said Henderson.
“Training with them you get to know some of their strengths and some of their weaknesses and you can use that. It’s very player preparation driven as a lot of the players know the other players; and teaching the non-Irish players about that is vital and giving them the preparation for playing such a good side as Munster is vital.”
With runner-up finishes in the European Cup in 2012 and Pro12 in 2013, Ulster have come close, but not close enough to first silverware since 2006 – when they won the Celtic League – and the young forward knows that the province need to hone their killer instinct when it comes to the must-win ties at the business end of the season.
“We as a team in Ulster haven’t responded well in cup finals these last number of years,” said Henderson. “The semi-finals and quarter-finals we’ve been involved in haven’t gone our way. I think this season we’ve got more composure and throughout the season we’ve got more consistency. We haven’t lost a game at home in the Pro12 yet and it would be great to keep that record to the end of the season at the Kingspan Stadium.”
As for how to go about that, sharpening the mind and being psychologically stronger than your opponent is the key according to Henderson, “It’s massively about instinct and your own self-drive inside. It will come down to the wire; you against him and who’s going to front up more.”
