Willie Faloon and Mark Sexton plotting Ulster's next South Africa test against Lions after perfect start in United Rugby Championship

Defence coach Faloon and Ulster’s attack coach Sexton have taken the plaudits as Ulster are the only side to have maximum points in the domestic league after three bonus point wins.

“I'm sharing a room with him, so the two of us get to chat all sorts of rugby: attack, defence and everything else; there’s a bit of scheming and planning going on,” revealed Faloon.

However, the former flanker admitted there is no one blueprint for stopping opposition attacks in the modern game.

“I think it's different for different teams that you play against, some teams will want to do it a certain way,” he said.

“I think it's hard, you see a lot more games with higher scores, so I think attacks are doing really well at the minute. It's up to us to put pressure on the attack, force errors and get the ball back as best we can.

“I suppose it's taking every one of those moments in front of you and trying to get a positive outcome, trying to stack up those good moments.”

Faloon has attributed Ulster’s start to the work that was undertaken during the summer.

“I thought we had a brilliant pre-season, the guys really, really bought in and they worked really hard,” he added.

“So yeah, definitely coming up to the first few weeks, you're like, ‘well I wonder what everyone else is doing and how everyone else's pre-season is going and where will we actually sit’? But when I think about how they've trained all summer and how much work they've put in, I think they deserve the performances that they have put in.

“I suppose we're focused on the Lions, we're not thinking about tables as [it is] very early in the season and all the rest, so yeah, it's going to be a big performance needed at the Lions this weekend.”

Unfortunately, due to a quartet of players leaving South Africa for Ireland camp and injuries, Ulster will be forced into changes from the side that defeated the Sharks last weekend, but Faloon believes that will open up opportunities for other members of the squad.

“It’s a little bit disruptive, we've had some players come out to bolster our numbers, but we're probably down a couple,” he said. “And obviously you're losing four lads who have lots of IQ and are big leaders around the group as well, so it is disruptive, but I think the lads have been going well.”

Faloon is backing young guns Joe Hopes and Bryn Ward to do a job this weekend if called upon.

Hopes – the Queen’s lock – won his second cap in the Sharks victory while Ward could be set for his Ulster debut after some impressive performances for Ballynahinch.

Faloon said: “Joe’s got lots of potential, he's got lots to learn, but he's a talented guy and he works hard for what he's doing.”