Harsh lessons pay off for Ulster
Ulster captain Johann Muller put much of side’s impressive European Cup quarterfinal victory over Munster down to lessons learned over the past year.
The Springbok lock said that the Irish side were able to draw on their experience in the European Cup last year to hold off a determined Munster team who had never lost a cup quarterfinal at home before.
“We went to Milton Keynes for the quarterfinal last season against Northampton Saints and we had the lead at half-time but couldn’t finish it off,” said the South African tight forward who led his players to the club’s most famous success since they won the European Cup in 1999.
“We also learned from the pool games this season against Clermont and Leicester and we spoke about all of those things at half-time. That experience helped us and the more you play the less inclined you are to make the same mistakes again,” Muller added.
The big lock was full of praise for his team who showed a lot of character to hold on for the win, despite the best efforts of their hosts.
“This was a special effort by everyone. We were 19 points up and something had to go pretty wrong for us to lose, and okay, we nearly did, but it was a special victory. Still, we realise we haven’t achieved anything yet. We have a semifinal spot – and that’s it,” he said.
Muller’s view was echoed by head coach, Brian McLaughlin, who was also looking ahead to the semifinal against Edinburgh in Dublin on Saturday, 28 April.
He commented: “The win over Munster was probably the culmination of three years of hard work. When we played Northampton in the last eight last season, we went with hope. This time there was genuine expectation, so we see this as the start of something, not the end.
“The victory is the biggest highlight of my rugby career to date, and 19-0 up was a dream start, but we’re not there yet. Edinburgh showed what they can do against the favourites Toulouse, so we’re under no illusions.
“The semifinal will be another challenge, but we’ve been trying to build self-belief among the players, and all in all we played brilliantly against Munster,” added McLaughlin.
