Ben Carson looking for positives after heavy defeat against Bulls in South Africa
Ben Carson tried to take the positives out of Ulster’s defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria.
Richie Murphy’s side picked up only one match point from their two games in the Rainbow Nation and the 47-21 reversal at Loftus Versfeld leaves Ulster 13th in the United Rugby Championship table.
Carson on his first start for the province also bagged his first try.
He said: “I’m just extremely delighted to have my first start for Ulster and it makes it even better to score a try, and I’d like to thank all the lads who helped me along the way and the coaches, and I’m delighted Richie Murphy has given me a chance.
“That was a tough day at the office, but I think we’re proud enough of ourselves for putting out a good effort and we scored three tries, but ultimately we didn’t get the result we wanted but it was a tough enough day now.
“As Ulstermen whether you’re foreign or from here, everyone wants to give their all for Ulster and it’s testament to all the boys out there who did really well for the team.”
With James Hume on the long-term injury list and Stuart McCloskey potentially facing a spell on the sidelines, the 22-year-old centre could see plenty of game time in the Ulster midfield.
“I’m buzzing, I’m just hoping I can get another chance and that I can put my best foot forward out there and really go after it again,” said Carson.
“The Academy system at Ulster and all the young lads coming through to the senior team, that’s what we live for and we do have a young squad, and all the young lads like myself are going to have to step up and really do our thing for Ulster this season, so onwards and upwards from here.”
Despite the two defeats Carson enjoyed his time with the squad in South Africa.
“We always have loads of craic when we’re away on tour with the boys and especially a lovely country like South Africa where the weather is lovely and we’re out doing plenty of exploring and going out for nice meals, and it’s really good for bonding and that shows on the pitch, though we didn’t get the result we wanted,” he said. “We’re growing and we will get there.”
Ulster now face a huge interprovincial derby with fourth-placed Connacht at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday night.
“Connacht’s a big one, an interpro at home, it’s going to be a tough fight but we’re ready, we’re always ready,” Carson added.
Ulster coach Richie Murphy wasn’t too downhearted about the result in Pretoria.
“I think you can see where we are in our development, the fact that we have two front rowers playing that have three caps each, we have a centre getting his first cap playing along a side that normally plays in the back three,” he said.
“We are missing our international centre pairing of James Hume and Stuart McCloskey, we’re missing two international hookers in Rob Herring and Tom Stewart, so there is a lot of experience that is outside our team at the moment but we are growing and we ae learning as we go.
“This experience to play against such a strong Bulls team – teams have come here with a lot stronger teams than we had out there and have had the same thing done to them.”