Away form a real boost says John Cooney

Ulster only had one regular season win in Pro14 away from Belfast last season, and scrum half John Cooney admitted it is something the side want to fix after his six points inspired the 11-7 victory over the Blues.

“The away form is something that we’ve talked about in the past few years and it hasn’t always been as good as it needs to be,” said Cooney

“We talk about creating our own atmosphere and we’ve done that the past few games, but we have to keep it going because you need that come the end of the season.

“Both these games (Ospreys and Cardiff) have been chess games, the weather hasn’t been good and we’ve had to talk and communicate and play in the right areas, I think we’ve done that.

“That every inch mantra, it makes a difference. You saw that before half-time (Cardiff game), in the past we might have knocked off, or given away a penalty, or lost a scrum and they could have gone the length of the field.

“We train continuously at it and I think we’re getting better at it, what you see out there is a reflection of it, we actively work on it and Dan drives it.

“It’s not something that just happens, you don’t just go away and all of a sudden that mindset is there, we’ve tried to ingrain it in ourselves and we’ve worked hard at it.”

After missing out on the conclusion to Ireland’s Six Nations campaign Cooney is hoping to add to his 11 international caps during the Autumn Nations Cup.

“It was humbling not to make the squad, I think the mantra for the three years before was to play well and keep playing well,” he said.

“That’s all I can do. Sport can be pretty upsetting or pretty fickle but all I can do is keep playing well and try to not to think too much about getting into squads.

“I think in lockdown I probably put myself under too much pressure to come back playing the way that I had been.

“I’d a little achilles niggle that meant I missed four or five weeks of training so again after that I put myself under even more pressure to get back.

“I think emotionally I probably invested too much in each individual game.

“I’m that sort of player, I put a lot into it, but you have to understand that things can change pretty quickly.

“If I’m not enjoying myself then I’m not coming in on a Monday morning chirping and I know that the energy that I bring is important to the people around me.

“For a few weeks there, when I was disappointed with how things were going, I wasn’t myself but life is short and a rugby career is short so you have to enjoy it.”

Cooney came off against the Dragons and was straight in the car to Dublin after being called into the Ireland as cover for the France game.

“Andy was just happy I came straight down after the game and did all the work,” he said.

“I wanted to give myself the best possible chance of maybe getting in.

“He was full of praise for me coming down and I was happy with how I trained.

“I’m trying not to invest too much energy because I know things change, I can be in or I can be out, but I have to keep playing well for Ulster and keep enjoying it.”