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Ulster's unusual tactic to ensure kickers are prepared for Clermont's cauldron
By Josh Raisey
Ahead of their crunch Heineken Champions Cup showdown against Clermont this Saturday, Ulster’s kickers have been preparing for the noisy experience they will encounter Stade Michelin.
The French stadium is one of European rugby’s most iconic and rapturous environments and has proven to be a difficult hunting ground for visiting sides - their 77-match winning run at home last decade is an indication of that.
The crowd can be cacophonous at times, so both John Cooney and Bill Johnston have been preparing to combat the partisan supporters.
Both players have been practising kicking with their headphones playing the sound of the Clermont crowd in order to give a taste of what they can expect this Saturday.
Scrum-half Cooney shared the video on Instagram of both players practising at the Kingspan Stadium.
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Cooney is enjoying a standout season for Ulster, particularly in the Champions Cup where he has the second-most points and is joint-second on the try-scoring list.
However, he will need to be at his best on Saturday to overcome a formidable Clermont side at their veritable fortress to take control of the pool.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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