It has certainly been an eventful time at Kingspan Stadium since Ulster were last in European action.
A sloppy defeat by Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop back in January meant the province were dumped out of the Investec Champions Cup, setting up Sunday’s last-16 tie away to Montpellier in the Challenge Cup.
In the months since, head coach Dan McFarland and chief executive Jonny Petrie have left, both replaced only on an interim basis.
Richie Murphy and Hugh McCaughey are in situ for now but there remains uncertainty around these key positions beyond the summer.
Add to that the news this week regarding an early departure for last year’s marquee signing Steven Kitshoff, and it is clear to see how a deep run in the cup could be a boost to a beleaguered side and their fanbase.
The second-tier competition may be rugby’s equivalent of off-Broadway but, for a team without a trophy since 2006, no opportunity for silverware will be dismissed.
Knockout rugby of any hue, however, has long been their Achilles heel.
When winning the Celtic League in 2006, thanks to a David Humphreys’ drop-goal that bounced off both posts against the Ospreys, there was no do-or-die rugby to negotiate.
Back then the league title was bestowed upon the side who topped the table at the end of the season.
Since the introduction of domestic play-offs in 2010, Ulster have played 26 knockout ties in all competitions. They have won only six.
During McFarland’s tenure alone, Ulster sides faced 14 knockout ties in five seasons.
If the departed head coach’s stated aim at Kingspan Stadium was to be an organisation consistently competing for championships, he built a side adept at making the knockout stages but who rarely performed once they got there.
They lost 10 of those 14 knockout ties under McFarland, the last of which was the damaging URC quarter-final defeat at home to Connacht last May.
“We haven’t done as well as we would have liked when it comes to knockout games,” said attack coach Dan Soper, who joined the province in 2018.
“We’ve done exceptionally well in terms of the league position. We haven’t been able to finish the job in the knockouts.”
‘Not a record we’re proud of’
Two rare knockout victories did come in the Challenge Cup, as they beat Harlequins and Northampton Saints away from home in the Covid-19 impacted 2020-21 season.
But they lost to Leicester Tigers in the semi-finals that season – with that result, alongside the Stormers URC semi-final of 2022 and the two-legged Champions Cup defeat by Toulouse during that same campaign, among a host of missed opportunities for what would have been considered a statement victory.
When the lights have been brightest, Ulster have faltered.
“We’ve won two of our last 10 games in European rugby and that’s something that has stuck with me,” said captain Iain Henderson.
“It’s not a record that we’re proud of but one we have to stand with and take a step forward into our next game and look to right a few wrongs in our next game in European competition.
“We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves or be too confident or cocky about where we should be.”
Knockout rugby, naturally, brings better opposition but the pronounced difference between Ulster’s results in regular-season games and when matters must be decided on the day feels especially stark.
“Knockout rugby is tough,” added winger Robert Baloucoune, who scored a memorable hat-trick against Toulouse in the Champions Cup last 16 in 2022 – only for Ulster to still lose over two legs.
“You only get one chance at it. I look back, when you make mistakes in games, and think I could have done better.
“That is just the way of knockout rugby. The way I look at it is just go out there and do what you need to do right [individually].
“Collectively that helps the team and that is the stuff that I will be focusing on going into this game.”
Ulster must wish the winning formula was so simple.
“We’re at this time of year again, aren’t we?” said Henderson.
“If I had the answer sitting here, I’d have implemented it many years ago.
“I’m excited. I have the same buzz going into this one as I have going into past ones. I don’t know if that’s good or bad but I know the young guys who have been in this position before are champing at the bit to get another opportunity in knockout rugby.
“That’s fantastic. Their ambition and drive to be involved in knockout rugby is brilliant, it’s exciting.
“Richie has come in and we know there’s a lot of work that’s needed to be done. We’ve covered a lot in the last two weeks and there’s a lot more to come.
“We’re seeing massive strides session on session and if we see them coming out in the weeks ahead in European rugby, that’ll be brilliant and it’ll be strides in the right direction for righting that record.”
With Murphy seeking the head coach role on a full-time basis, finding the answer to such a long-running issue would surely do his employment prospects at Ravenhill no harm at all.
