Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Ulster's unusual tactic to ensure kickers are prepared for Clermont's cauldron

John Cooney lines up a shot at goal for Ulster (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

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. 

ADVERTISEMENT

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. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7D2K1UhB7Q/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

While this may not quite come close to what the atmosphere will be like, it is positive that Ulster are taking some measures to ensure they are not caught out by the intimidating environment. 

Both teams enter this game as the runaway leaders of Pool 3, although the Irish side sit one point ahead of their rivals on 17 points. 

ADVERTISEMENT

While there is still a very good chance that both sides will progress to the knockout stages, they will be aware that topping the pool gives them a better seeding in the quarter-finals and a likely home berth. It is for that reason that neither side will be taking this match lightly. 

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. 

ADVERTISEMENT

WATCH: RugbyPass have made something truly special with the Barbarians rugby team – the release date is Sunday, January 12

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 4 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

147 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ What is the future of rugby in 2025? What is the future of rugby in 2025?
Search