Anscombe calls for more
Despite maintaining their unbeaten record in all competitions with a RaboDirect PRO12 win over second place Scarlets in Wales, Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has called on his players to raise their game ahead of Friday’s Heineken Cup Pool 4 fixture with Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens (8pm).
The Northern Province now boast a nine-point lead at the top of the PRO12 table after condemning the Scarlets to a 12-19 defeat on Sunday.
Paddy Jackson kicked fourteen points while Andrew Trimble crossed for the game’s only try when he intercepted a Scarlets pass on 28 minutes.
Ulster are two wins from two games in this season’s Heineken Cup after overcoming Castres and Glasgow but they now face into crucial back-to-back matches against Northampton Saints and Anscombe insists they must improve on last weekend’s showing.
“I’m very disappointed with that display,” the Kiwi remarked. “We’re going to have to get a whole lot better than that on Friday night when we play Northampton.
“We’ve got ourselves a nine point buffer so we’ll take that, but we’re not kidding ourselves; we’re not half way through the competition and if we don’t pick things up that buffer’s going to get eaten up pretty quickly.”
Ulster have been the form province this season as was reflected in Decland Kidney’s decision to give players such as Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Iain Henderson, Darren Cave and Paddy Jackson a chance to impress in an Irish jersey over the autumn internationals.
However Anscombe sees several problem areas in his side’s game at the moment, suggesting they should have pulled clear of the Scarlets on Sunday after establishing a 13-3 lead in the first half.
“We’d done enough to set up a platform in the first half and take that game away. The way we played in the second half was disappointing.
“We didn’t look after the ball and we gave away too many penalties. I’m worried about our ability to look after the ball and our ability to strike.
“We only scored one try and that was an intercept; we didn’t even look like scoring a try, though nor did they I suppose. It was a poor game of rugby by both teams.”
Victory over Sale Sharks at the weekend lifted Northampton to third place in the Aviva Premiership and Anscombe believes he faces a race against the clock to iron out the kinks in Ulster’s game before taking on Jim Mallinder’s men.
“The fact is we’re not building pressure, we’re not cherishing possession and we’re not striking when opportunities present themselves.
“We’ve got to get on our feet and bounce back. We’ve got to address a few areas of concern between now and Friday and we don’t have a lot of time to work on it.”
