Dan Soper maps out Ulster plan for away success over Leinster

Leo Cullen’s side haven’t lost a game at the Dublin venue since the 2022 United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Bulls - while Ulster have only experienced victory twice at the ground in their last 20 visits.

Ulster go into the New Year’s Day clash seemingly have turned a corner, winning their last two games after a three-match losing streak, while Leinster occupy top spot in the table.

Soper believes whoever wins the battle of the gain line will go on to take the points.

“I think when you play Leinster, the best gain line team on both sides of the ball in our league and one of the top in Europe, if they are winning the gain line when you have the ball, which they are pretty good at, then you are going backwards in attack,” said Soper. “Then it is very, very difficult to get on the frontfoot and create one-on-one opportunities, which if you get those one-on-one opportunities your offloads and your short-pass game comes in.

“So the first thing is you have got to win the battle of the gain line and that goes right back to the quality of your launch.

“If you launch well against them and get on the frontfoot early you have got a chance, but if you don’t launch well through your set-piece to the accuracy of your first phase then you are up against it.

“So that is a big challenge for us this week making sure everyone has clarity over the detail that is required to play a team like Leinster to get on the frontfoot and attack because if you try to play them on the backfoot...it is really difficult and hard to find a kick.

“You are playing and you are just going backwards and backwards trying to find a space somewhere, they are a very well-organised team who have a lot of good players who make good decisions and tackle well, so it is tough.”

How the gain line is won could come down to the battle of the backrows and the composition of sides.

“That (backrow) is a real strength of theirs,” said Soper. “They have got world-class players there, real quality players that make a difference.”

Soper added: “I suppose there is an element of who we are playing so we pick for that but, predominantly, it’s about how we want to play and picking the players that suit that, so that is how we’ll go about it when we get the list of all who is fit and available.

“I want to pick three guys that are all massive ball-carriers and have a bit of skill in offloading but you have to have a balance in your team.

“But that is where the best players are able to mix and match and have a bit of everything.

“They are able to play in South Africa in the hard, fast game and they can play at this time of the year when the games are a wee bit more grunt up front.”