Werner Kok says that Ulster must start to believe in themselves if they are to emerge from their losing streak sooner rather than later.
South African winger Kok was one of the few new faces to arrive at Ulster during the close-season and his all-action style has saw him quickly establish himself as a firm fan favourite.
Joining a squad with such a young age profile has saw Kok become one of the squad’s leaders a bit quicker than he may have anticipated.
But the former South African sevens star admits that the time for excuses is over and that it’s up to experienced squad members like himself to help pick up the pieces and drag his side from the doldrums.
“I know we are all in a building phase with a lot of young boys in the team and you can actually see it a little bit. It’s an excuse we can’t use anymore,” he admitted.
“There’s a lot of seniors around the team that can actually pick the boys up and just have to start believing because we have got a lot of talent in the squad. We just have to stick in there and use our ability and talent to get over the line and win a few games.”
These are testing times for everyone associated with the province. Coming through a fixture list that included the top two teams in France along with three inter-pro derbies, the mental fortitude of the young Ulster squad was always going to be tested to its limits.
Kok maintains that the teams is doing all that they can to get back to winning ways, including blanking out all outside noise and fully concentrating on what is happening inside the group.
“It is tough. I’ve been in this situation before.
“You can’t really worry what’s on the outside and what other people are says. It comes more internally now and it actually brings out the character in the team.
“It’s always easy to see good character and real fight if it’s going well. But it really brings out the boys fight and character when it’s not going well. So, it is going test us now.”
Friday night’s defeat to Munster hurt more as Ulster looked to be on their way to a much-needed win when James McNabney went over for a try in the 76th minute.
But for the second time in the contest, Ulster allowed Munster to reply instantly and with the last play of the game, Tom Farrell stunned Ravenhill with his third try of the night.
Teams are often at their most vulnerable after they score, and twice Ulster exposed their vulnerability from the restart.
“We have to try and get another positive on top of a positive. We can’t go positive, negative the whole time. And I think that is the big thing for us. To really stay in it, to control the game a little bit better.
“We’ve taken bit of a knock but I know we will bounce back.”
