WHILE Ulster were glad of the break after a gruelling run of games, Louis Ludik would have preferred a little less time off.
The South African-born full-back could only watch on as their hopes faltered somewhat with defeats by Scarlets and Cardiff Blues. He also missed the wins over Glasgow and Zebre because of a groin injury, and will be hoping that his return to the side coincides with a repeat of that 13-10 win over the Warriors five weeks ago.
“It’s never nice, it’s so frustrating, especially with the groin. I didn’t tear it, I just pulled it but any small thing with the groin can take so long. It’s a very sensitive muscle," Ludik said.
“I’m feeling great, every day is getting better and better. It’s such a frustrating thing sitting on the pavilion, just watching, not able to do anything so I’m so excited to be back and just looking forward.”
Having had to travel to Oyonnax for a rescheduled Champions Cup game in January meant that Ulster had no real break for a couple of months. That and the absence of the international crew began to show on them as performances dipped against Scarlets and Cardiff.
“Some of the guys get the chance to get away, we just went to London for the week to try and break it, a physiological break as well. It was much needed definitely," Ludik added.
“We didn’t have that when we played Oyonnax away. It was a long run in, a long period of the season with no breaks. They tried to rotate us and give the guys time off every now and then but it takes its toll. You can see with the amount of injuries that we had, the body can only take so much. The break was really needed. The guys made the most of it.”
Ulster haven’t won at the Scotstoun Stadium since 2012 and found their dreams of silverware undone at the venue in last May’s semi-final. That controversial 16-14 defeat to the eventual PRO12 champions isn’t what motivates Ludik though, and he believes their poor record in Glasgow is unfortunate.
“They were the champions and deservingly so. We know it’s going to be a tough game, we beat them over here and they’re going to come for us. We just have to pitch up," he said.
“Every time we go there, we’ve played well. There’s a couple of games, if I think quickly, Hendy’s knock over the line, one time I didn’t pass the ball, we broke them down but didn’t finish them off.
“They’re a good scramble team, they work hard for each other and before you score they cover well. We know we can break them down, finishing our opportunities is massive for us. The semi-final last year, we played very well to the 60th minute and then they came through. We have to play for the whole game.”
Ulster are in the middle of a group of seven teams who harbour realistic hopes of reaching the play-offs. Their three Irish provincial rivals, along with Scarlets, Glasgow and outside bet Edinburgh could all still reach the semi-finals, yet all could equally still miss out on qualification for next season’s Champions Cup.
“It’s five games, but there’s a few breaks. You can almost refresh again,” said Ludik, who recently signed a new one-year contract at the Kingspan.
“Two games, refresh, go for the next one. If we lose one of these last five it’s going to be tough, especially with all the teams very close at the moment. It’s going to be a great run in. The guys are looking forward. It’s a massive challenge. For the European Cup, it’s going to be tough for the team that misses out.
“We have to take it game-by-game. Obviously we look at the table and we know it’s going to be very tight at the top but we have to take it game by game. Every game is going to be very tough but we have big teams to play, but we can’t look to the future too much. Game for game, we’ll give it everything.”
