When Ulster’s transformation this season has come up in conversation, there is one name that keeps cropping up.
Mark Sexton was appointed Ulster’s attack coach under Richie Murphy for this season and the numbers speak for themselves.
Last year, when Ulster had a miserable campaign and finished third from bottom in the United Rugby Championship, they scored 59 tries and 414 points in 18 league matches.
Now, 12 months on and with a game to spare, the Sexton-led attack have scored 68 tries and 472 points as they hold eighth place with a final match with leaders Glasgow Warriors to come.
Glasgow’s visit to Belfast will be the start of a huge week for Ulster as they look to secure a place in the URC play-offs, and the Champions Cup place that comes with it.
The following week, they take on Montpellier in Bilbao in the Challenge Cup final as they look to end their 20-year trophy drought.
Sexton, the younger brother of former Ireland fly-half Johnny, was keen to put emphasis on his players’ performances, rather than the impact of his own coaching.
“They’ve been absolutely brilliant, haven’t they? It’s a joy to watch,” Sexton told BBC Sport NI.
“The simplicity comes from a few different principles that we have in our game model.
“One of them being, wherever the space is, that’s where we want the ball to go to. It sounds very simple, but that’s the beauty of it, because it is simple.
“We’re very lucky that we’ve so many lads who are playing well at the moment and we have a couple of really important guys who are holding us together.”
