After suffering two-heavy defeats in South Africa, Nick Timoney insists that there were still many positives to take away from their battles with the Lions and Bulls.
Head coach Richie Murphy handed debuts to three recent recruits from the Ulster Academy while Corrie Barrett and Aidan Morgan also experienced a taste of South African rugby at the same time.
But Timoney feels that the experience of the last two-weeks will stand to the younger players and he was able to draw parallels from his own early days in an Ulster shirt.
“If you look at a Charlie Irvine or a James McCormick making their first start and they are playing against a pack with how many Springboks at Loftus (against the Bulls)? said Timoney.
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“I know on the face of it the score wasn’t crazy close but it actually felt like we were kind of in that game and we could have got a bonus point or two in the end and that must be motivating in certain ways.
“I remember my first couple of games as well, we had a draw and a loss.
“I certainly remember my second game against the Ospreys we got hammered but when you are so young and new I felt like if I carried and was tackled by Tipuric who was a Lion at the time it almost felt to me that I was closer to being a proper player than further.”
“From my point of view where a loss feels like a defeat and as much as those lads ambition my want to be winning, a first second, third cap or a first start that can be huge for lads and it puts them in a good place.”
Attention now turns to a derby clash with Connacht on Saturday night, and Timoney is looking forward to the challenges of the first inter-pro of season.
“The Bulls are a big physical team with some athletes, Connacht are maybe not the same not the size but they will bring that Irish edge that they have.
“So, they will play the game that Irish teams pride themselves on playing which is they’ll be very switched on, they’ll play their shape properly, they will be very hard at the break down and they will be well drilled with their set piece stuff.
“I guess it is different in a number of ways but no less challenging.”
When Connacht come to town all eyes will automatically turn to Irish internationals Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen. But’s it the battle up front that Timoney is concentrating on, and in particular the battle of the breakdown.
“Connacht would be pretty open about that being a big strength of theirs and that being something that they would target when they play us.
“Between Cian (Pendergast) Connor Oliver, Josh Murphy and (Shamus) Hurley-Langton etc, they are going to go hard at the breakdown as they always do, so we need to be switched on and put some pressure back on them.”
