THE BELFAST Telegraph had an interesting headline the other day: "How Matt Williams revived Ulster". For those of a sceptical outlook, the Belfast paper was indeed referring to the same Australian coach who was once in charge of Scotland and managed just three wins in 17 outings.
Edinburgh welcome Ulster for a Magners League fixture next Friday evening and Williams will re-visit Murrayfield with his team for the first time since being shown the door by the SRU back in April 2005.
The habitually talkative Williams is a little less chatty these days, still shunning the Scottish press after suffering a bruising time at their hands during his two-season stint at Murrayfield. At one point the Aussie hinted that the media's adverse reaction to him was motivated by his nationality and the evidence on that score is mixed; Dan Parks' experience may back him up although that of Nathan Hines suggests otherwise. It is more likely that his smooth, some would say glib, delivery grated with the rugby writers and public alike who were more accustomed to Jim Telfer's no-nonsense delivery.
What is undeniable is that Williams retired from Europe hurting badly and slunk back home to Sydney to lick his wounds. He coached at club level for a couple of years and hosted some motivational speaking classes while doing so before getting the call from Ulster exactly one year ago.
His first year in charge of the fallen giants – remember, Ulster won the European Cup back in 1999 – has been a rough ride. Williams' only remit in the second half of last season was to ensure Heineken Cup rugby by finishing above Connacht, a feat he achieved despite losing five of the province's last seven matches. Just when it seemed as if things could hardly get any worse, they did. After losing the services of front line picks in flanker Neil Best and wing/centre Tommy Bowe in the summer, Ulster started the new season with just one win in their opening seven matches.
That victory came courtesy of Andy Robinson's Edinburgh team who will be keen to make amends in next Friday's re-match and that result back in October might just have prolonged Williams' career at Ulster because there were rumours that the Australian would be home by Christmas. Instead Williams toughed it out and a rare victory over Munster just three weeks after beating Edinburgh bought him some respite as it sparked a run of three successive wins. After just seven victories in the previous 27 outings this was what prompted the "revived" headline in the local paper. A narrow loss to Leinster in the post-Christmas derby was followed last night by a remarkable away win in the rematch with Munster, a result that lifted Ulster to seventh place in the Magners League. To put the result in context, it was first time an Irish team had beaten Munster at Thomond Park since Leinster did so in December 1995, and they humbled the Heineken Cup champions with a devastating five-try salvo. It means they will travel to Edinburgh full of confidence.
One man who knows Williams better than most is Scotland winger Simon Danielli who was capped by the Aussie coach on seven occasions. Danielli now plays for Williams at Ulster although an injured hamstring makes him doubtful for next Friday's match. "I think the coach has to take some element of responsibility for the upturn," says the winger of his current boss. "The feelgood factor has definitely returned to Ravenhill. We lost on our last outing against Leinster but it was all square after 66 minutes and they only won it in the last 10 minutes. Ahead of that game we were unbeaten in four matches. We are playing well at home and we ran in six or seven tries against Connacht."
Danielli has claimed his fair share of those tries despite the injuries. The big winger claimed seven in his 15 starts last season and he has bagged another three this season despite playing a total of just 105 minutes of rugby. With Nikki Walker and Rory Lamont out of the Six Nations reckoning, Danielli will hope for a chance to rekindle his international career.
"It's a tough one," admits the winger when talking about injuries to others. "I like those guys and would never wish harm on anyone but when an injury happens it does open up opportunities for others. I am loving my rugby here when I am fit to play."
The nice thing is that Williams obviously rates his winger since he has selected the flying Scot on every occasion that he has reported fit for duty. Several Scottish players threw brickbats at the smooth-talking Australian after he had departed the scene. Hines even retired briefly from international rugby and blamed his fellow Australian for forcing the move but Danielli did not join in the chorus of disapproval and, as you might expect, he now backs his current boss.
"That was a number of senior players who made those comments about Matt and, to be honest, I was never a part of that group. I came out of that entire affair with," and here Danielli struggles to find the right phrase before settling upon, "a clear head. He (Williams] has done well for Ulster and the boys have taken to him pretty quickly. Anyway, he has always picked me when I am fit."
The jury is still out on Williams' tenure at Ulster but it is fair to say that he is held in higher esteem in Ireland than he is on this side of the water. It was Williams who broke Munster's monopoly on provincial success when he coached a 14-man Leinster to victory over their country cousins to win the Celtic League back in 2001.
Another victory over Edinburgh and Williams' rehabilitation will have moved one more small step in the right direction. Whatever the result, you suspect that Robinson will shake the Australian by the hand after next Friday's match and wish him well. After all, Robinson knows a bit about rehabilitation himself.
http://sport.scotsman.com/rugby/Matt-ba ... 4841614.jp