Kiss wants Ulster to develop killer instinct

Presseye
Published 1st Mar 2017

Ulster's Director of Rugby Les Kiss has challenged his players to find a "foot-on-throat" mentality to close out games.

Despite racking up 3 consecutive wins in the Pro12, Ulster have only played well in patches, and on each occasion have spent long portions of their victories on the back foot.

"We talked about respecting what the opponent has to play for, and that's probably where we're making errors - we can't give them access into the game in that way," said Kiss.

Each of the wins has produced a bonus point, and 5 points will again be the target this week when Treviso come to the Kingspan.

"We're trying to be really specific about the areas we need to grow - but also embrace the things that are growing for us in a really positive, confident way without trying to brush things under the carpet," said Kiss.

Last week's outing saw Ulster run in 6 tries in a 40-17 win away to Zebre, but Kiss said aspects of the game were disappointing.

"You do it once and you can accept it, but when 3 or 4 errors happen in a row that's when you start to give the opposition a real chance."

"We've got to make sure we take the good from it as well," said Kiss, keen not to be overly critical of his squad.

Ulster are now 5th in the Pro12 rankings, 5 points behind Scarlets with a game in hand.