Alan O’Connor highlights need to erase costly errors as Ulster prepare for La Rochelle clash

Leading against Munster in the final stages, Ulster box-kicked possession away, Jack Crowley ran the ball back and a few phases later Ben Healy had crossed for a try to set up his winning conversion.

Last week in Benetton, Ulster were in front on the scoreboard with four minutes remaining and again they attempted to clear their lines with a box kick. The Italians ran the ball back, Ulster were caught offside and Rhyno Smith kicked a penalty to condemn Dan McFarland’s side to a fifth defeat in six games.

“It is frustrating and [we are looking at] how can we replicate those standards in training, and maybe in our training we need to be harder on ourselves and the way we go about it,” said O’Connor.

“It’s frustrating and more so an individual concentration thing – I don’t know – but it’s definitely something that’s seeped in and we’re addressing it.

“We have to look forward because we’ve no other option now at this stage because these games are coming in hard and fast, and these are three massive games coming up.

"So we’re looking forward to them and obviously we hope to limit those mistakes and make sure we don’t go into our shells, and [that] we play with that positive attitude.”

O’Connor is one of the senior voices in the Ulster dressing room and says he will have a simple message before the team take the pitch at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

“Just go out and enjoy it – I won’t be saying ‘don’t do this, don’t do that’ because you just turn into a big negative person,” he said.

“You want to try and approach things in a positive way. We’re the same team we were a couple of months ago and it’s just that results haven’t gone our way and we haven’t performed to how we know we can, and all it’s going to take is a big performance and I think we have plenty of those in our team. And why not this weekend?”

Not many outside the province are giving Ulster a chance in France against Ronan O’Gara’s side, especially the bookmakers, who give Dan McFarland’s side a 14-point start on the handicap.

“We back ourselves no matter who’s playing or who we’re playing,” O’Connor said.

"It’s the way you have to think or else why are you bothering turning up. We’re not just taking part, we have to go out with a winning mindset or else you might as well hang your boots up.

“We know they’re big boys and we have to get them moving because if you give them the hit, they’ll hit you hard and hurt you.

“You’ve got to move them around and try to play quickly and put them under pressure in ways they don’t maybe feel most weeks in France, as a lot of them are quite similar teams in how they play.

“Maybe we can give them something different and put them under pressure.”