Ulster lock Alan O’Connor prepares for a “weird” college confrontation with Toulouse in Europe

Alan O’Connor prepares for a “freak” transition into the unknown as he battles a two-legged Alastair Toulouse in the Heineken Cup of Champions.

Reflecting the whole pattern that football has followed for many decades, rugby is entering a new dawn as it follows the sport into the quarter-finals of Europe this month.

This introduces new accounts as Ulster tried to win or keep score and reach Belfast after France’s first game on Saturday.

It’s weird,” O’Connor said of the 16-year-old’s new contest format.

“We’re going there to win, but if it doesn’t go that way towards the end of the game, you might be smarter.

“We will definitely think about it. You play in European competitions, so we are used to that.

“But the whole (scenario) is something we need to be more careful about if we are the main decision maker for the team. It will definitely be different.”

While Ulster is a 5-1 outman to defeat the European champions on French soil, Dan McFarland’s men have already taken some high-end scalpers away from their turf.

Claremont and Northampton have both fought pool strokes this season, while Leinster also lost 20-10 to the URC at RDS in November.

“We’ve won in France and Leinster as well as in England,” O’Connor said. “Obviously this is a huge challenge, but we are completing it with great confidence.

“We will take care of what we have already done this year and be realistic about the challenge.

“There are not many changes for us. We did it earlier this year and we will try to prove our will in Toulouse on Saturday.

O’Connor agrees that Ulster can build on the experience of defeating Claremont 29-23 at Stade Marcel Michelin in December.

Easier said than done, of course, against Toulouse, which has French Grand Slam stars Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamak among their ranks.

“Most French teams pose similar risks: really good defenders, a huge team if they play and execute their group correctly,” O’Connor said.

“The main thing for me is to stay in the game and not give the game the right to leave you. It’s also smart how we go about our business.

“Try to dominate the area, do a good job on the stage and make sure that you play with your strength and take away the strength of the opponent.

You know what Toulouse looks like. They have great stars and runners with the ball and they can break you from stage one to stage three.

We all know who owns it and Toulouse will come out full of action, so we need to make sure we play on the right pitch and play to our strengths.

“We will try to neutralize a lot of what they have and we will make sure that our team is used as our strength and that their personnel are withdrawn.”

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