Ulster's John Cooney with focus on final push over URC run

Ulster have lost a CEO, head coach and their marquee signing plus recorded some indifferent results both in Europe and domestically.

But a nine-point tally from their last two fixtures has moved the province into the URC playoffs places with three games remaining.

"My first season was a turbulent season with Jono (Gibbes) and Les (Kiss) and all that, we had a line in the sand against Edinburgh that season where we said that was going to be a change in the season, and that ended up being a change in years gone by,” said Cooney. “We did that a couple of times this season and never backed it up, we had the Racing win, we had Leinster away...but I feel like now this could be it.

“This could be the line in the sand we kick on, take each game as it comes, I know that's a cliche and boring. Scarlets away is a tough fixture, we've had some interesting games there over the years, that's huge for us now to have a training week because we've had four weeks away.

“We need a training week, we haven't had it, even Scarlets being on a Saturday means we get Monday, Tuesday, Thursday sessions, you can't implement what you want to bring in without training weeks. If I'm being honest, I found that Sharks game to be the lowest I've ever felt after a game...I thought we were terrible, I thought where the hell are we going and questioned my ability.

“Then I had a hard word with myself, asking what do you want, you're almost 34 and you've got another year-and-a-bit. I've probably had two really low moments in my career, with this probably three, but I wrote down in my notes that this was going to be the next chapter. Since then I've been happy with how I'm going, you've got a question: do you want to dissolve into your career and that be the end of it, or do you want to fix it?

"Now, when I look back on it, it's quite nice. There's something about difficult moments that people don't understand, when you look back on them they're kinda nice in a weird, messed-up way. So now I like to think next season or the end of this season I can look back on that and say that was quite a cool moment that I was struggling and managed to turn it around."

As a result of the five points against Benetton, Ulster’s URC playoff and Champions Cup destiny is in their own hands.

"Rugby just never goes as you expect, the number of games that I've played where I say we're going to start this game, my first kick is going to be perfect, we're going to ease into the game, everything's going to go well, we're going to be 14-0 up,” he said. “And all of a sudden we're 14-0 down five minutes into the game and nothing you had envisaged or visualised has happened. What do you do then? Even for the start of this game, exactly that. I was confident we were going to go well and then we were 5-0 down.

“It's how can you adapt, how can you respond, and I've realised over the last couple of seasons that it never goes as you expect. That's how you have to work on the mental aspect of it...it's just work ethic.”