ULSTER COACH MARK ANSCOMBE has predicted a bright future for versatile back Stuart Olding after the 20-year-old starred in a home win over Cardiff Blues on Friday.
Olding, who made a provincial and Test breakthrough at inside centre last season, played at fullback in the 39 — 21 league win over the Welsh side. Apart from one clearance attempt that was charged down, Olding revelled in his new role and set up two second-half tries.
Anscombe told TheScore.ie: “We know he’s a good footballer; that’s why he is in the team. He’s got the skills and he can play a number of positions. We know he has a fine future. We’ve just got to build him up and give him the opportunities.”
The highlight of Olding’s night was a linebreak and offload that set Luke Marshall up for a 42nd minute try:
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Olding, for his part, was ‘very happy’ with how 80 minute outing in the backfield despite spots of rust. Anscombe, he revealed, had run him at fullback in training in recent weeks so getting the 15 jersey was not the biggest surprise. “With the quality of players we have in the backline,” Olding added, “I’m just happy to be in the starting 15.”
Anscombe was perturbed that Ulster ‘let Cardiff in for a couple of soft ones’ but was generally pleased with his side’s sixth win on the spin. He praised the ‘bloody good’ scrummaging of Callum Black, a late replacement for the injured John Afoa. Anscombe said:
It wasn’t our best work, we know that, but it’s objective achieved and we can be happy with that. Sometimes we can get too critical. It was a tough old game; they came with a purpose and were buoyant after a good win last week. We got out to 16 — 3 and were going quite well but then we let them back in in those last 10 minutes [of the first half]. We did well, though, and put them away in the second-half.”
Asked about first-half injuries that took a shine off the win, Anscombe revealed Rory Best had rolled his ankle but is hopeful of being fit and available for the first Test, against Samoa, in two weeks. Johann Muller is ‘pretty doubtful’ for the league tie away to Scarlets next weekend.
He added, “It’s always concerning when you lose a couple of players of that calibre in the first couple of minutes of the game and it would’ve been worse if we had lost more. The guys that came on did a great job and it’s a beauty if you get a bit of depth in the squad so you can cover that without having to panic.”
– Additional reporting by Megan Joyce
