THE SHEER JOY of crossing the try-line is an aspect of rugby that never fades, no matter how high a player rises in the professional ranks.
Ulster outside centre Darren Cave has rarely been the most prolific scorer for his province, with the seven he notched in 2008/09 still the highest total he has reached in a season. While crossing the whitewash is never a priority, or even a focus, the 26-year-old admitted he was pleased to have scored in Friday night’s 29-19 win over Munster.
Cave got on the end of a scintillating counter-attack by Ulster, sparked by the wonderful Jared Payne and carried on by winger Andrew Trimble.
Thankfully it went out to Trimby and found its way back to me. I love scoring tries. I probably haven’t scored as many as I’d want to this year. The back three don’t really share them out that much, but it was good to get on the score-sheet.”
That try showed the cutting edge Ulster’s back-line can bring at their best and Mark Anscombe will be expecting to see more of the same when Montpellier show up in Ravenhill on Friday night. Cave believes that it’s the province’s range of options that is bringing out the best in the players.
“The strength-in-depth in the back-line is ridiculous at this stage. Mark’s got all sorts of options. Anyone he’s put in there has done a good job for us, I think that’s been shown time and time again, both in midfield and out wide.
“I suppose from my point of view, I’ve just got to keep working hard and keep trying to play well to make sure I’m involved as much as possible.”
To put in another strong display in the second inter-provincial in two weekends was satisfying for Cave, who has won five caps for Ireland. The 26-year-old will be hopeful that Joe Schmidt is keeping an open mind to increasing that figure in the coming seasons.
For now, the Holywood man is focused on helping Ulster to maintain the high standards they have set for themselves on the pitch. In play-off contention in the Pro12 and top of their Heineken Cup pool, the prospects for the remainder of the season look promising.
Off the pitch, Cave is thrilled that the province continues to go from strength to strength, with the growing clamour for tickets at Ravenhill a welcome feature of life in Belfast.
The one thing that’s really pleasing about this organisation is how it’s changed off the field as well. I think back to my first season where I played a lot rugby in ’08/09 – the atmosphere was always good, but the crowds were 5,000-ish off what they are now.
“I think this place sells out every week, regardless of what kind of teams are out, regardless of the weather. It’s a special place to play in front of and it’s nice that we threw the ball around and gave them something to cheer about.
“It is special.”
