MAJESTIC McCLOSKEY

Neil Doak probably woke up on Saturday morning and pinched himself.

We all knew that this Ulster team had the potential to turn on a great performance, but to put four tries past a fellow play-off hopeful is an incredibly impressive way to kick off the new season. Ulster showed a fantastic resilience in defence that ensured they won most of the first up collisions and then had the ability in their star studded back line to reward that defence with a scintillating attacking display.

And it was that kind of play that lifted the crowd as well. As Ulster gained the upper hand in the game the crowd also lifted with them – the Kingspan faithful roared with every big hit from an Ulster defender, every big carry from the excellent Nick Williams and, with the backing of said crowd, the bonus point came with just a couple of minutes left on the clock.

While Ulster’s performance was one of an exemplary team kind, it is impossible to overlook the impact of Stuart McCloskey.

Ulster are blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the centre of the park. Darren Cave and Jared Payne are currently preparing for the World Cup with Ireland. Stuart Olding is still in rehab and won’t return from his unfortunate ankle injury until January. And back at home McCloskey and Luke Marshall formed the centre partnership that sunk the Ospreys, while young Sam Arnold came on from the bench.

Any other team would be delighted to have that kind of talent at their disposal. Ulster don’t quite know where to fit everybody in – there is still no centre partnership that Ulster fans agree upon as the “best” partnership. For some centres this would be enough to send them elsewhere looking for game time (as Chris Farrell and Michael Allen have done), but McCloskey has stuck it out and on Friday night put in possibly his best performance in a white shirt.

Forget about that try for a moment because, as good as it was, it was simply the cherry on top of his man of the match cake.

Known for his physical presence on a rugby pitch, it’s not just that which McCloskey showcased on Friday night. His subtle running lines led him through gaps in the Ospreys defence, his own defence is bone-shatteringly solid and, on top of all of that, he can goal kick too (well, to a certain extent)! We have seen the Bangor man dominate teams with his ball carrying in the past, but against the Ospreys we saw him dominate in all facets of the game.

And the try was quite simply beautiful. It looked like nothing was on down the right hand side, but a hand off on Jonathan Spratt created the space, the centre’s pace took him away from Kristian Phillips and then his sheer brute force was enough to allow him to power his way through two Ospreys men on the line. It was all at once one of the most bizarre and yet one of the most fantastic tries ever scored at the Kingspan Stadium.

It’s that kind of form that saw him listed as one of the potential outsiders for Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad. For a player who has been on the scene now for just under two years, the fact that defenders haven’t found a way to quell his ball carrying ability proves he is quite simply one of the Pro12’s most destructive ball carriers. He should be delighted with how he played on Friday night, and he will undoubtedly be desperate to continue that form – Schmidt will still be watching.

As for Ulster, they head to Llanelli this Saturday to take on the Scarlets who saw off Glasgow last weekend. Expect a relatively unchanged team from Neil Doak because, as the saying goes, “why fix what ain’t broke?” His coaching was spot on against the Ospreys and, with a whole lot of momentum behind them, and the power of McCloskey and Williams, there’s no reason why you won’t be reading the blog next week and we’ll be two-from-two.

So take a bow Stuart McCloskey. And shake in fear centres everywhere.