The era of stitching gold stars into provincial jerseys has been replaced by Six Nations titles.
While Joe Schmidt’s team is thriving, the task of winning Europe’s premier club competition has become an increasingly formidable one for the provinces since the IRFU tightened its policy on the recruitment of foreigners to encourage the development of homegrown players.
JJ Hanrahan is one who has got away to Northampton this summer but it's not necessarily a bad move so long as, like Tommy Bowe before him, he's lured back to these shores for the prime years of a career that promises so much.
But Bowe fitted into that rarest category in Irish rugby, alongside Johnny Sexton and before him only Keith Wood, in that he commanded an Ireland jersey despite moving abroad to play for the Ospreys from 2008 until 2012. He admits now it took a heavy physical toll.
“When I was at the Ospreys, certainly the first two years, I played a huge amount,” said Bowe. “I was 24, 25 going on 26 and I just had small niggles; I was able to play week on week but really, after two years, I felt my body starting to break down a bit from 30 plus games.
“In the first three years I had almost 80 caps and the final year I only got up to 96, so I think I played a lot of rugby.
“Listen, I loved every minute of it . . . but since I have come back to Ireland, the player management system has suited me amazingly. The way they look after players, like that break between the Six Nations, has benefited me massively. It’s what keeps players in Ireland.”
Bowe has played 13 Ulster games this season, five in Europe, running in seven tries. He's also re-established himself on Ireland's right wing, playing seven Test matches. The magic number for Ireland's elite players in this pre-World Cup season appears to be 25 games.
Flogged “I could have gone off to France [
after the Ospreys] but I knew my body was starting to fatigue and that I would have been flogged, just sent out to play,” Bowe continued.
“[Ireland] has looked after me really well and allowed me get my body back up to where it is now.”
Ulster and Bowe are seeking to replace Leinster as the alpha province but they are equally forewarned by the price of this success, with third-choice Leinster players struggling to deliver in some must-win Pro12 matches.
“It hasn’t affected us as much as Leinster,” said Bowe of the central player management scheme. “Probably our best period this year was during the Six Nations when we had a couple of super wins. The extended squad was able to get us bonus-point wins and some key victories that have put us from fourth or fifth in the league up to second or third.”
Basically how Leinster have done it until the present campaign.
There’s a healthy debate behind the scenes as the IRFU high performance director David Nucifora endeavours to appease increasingly irate provincial coaches – who live and die by their results – while ensuring the golden goose (the national team) gets the ideal environment to prosper.
It all means that Ulster have a great opportunity on Friday to capitalise on Leinster’s mid-season disarray; to bury them and avenge so many recent meetings.
"Since I've come back [winning silverware] is what we've talked about. Ulster were in a Heineken Cup final before I came back. We have been knocking on the door for a long, long time. Unfortunately, it has been Leinster who have been the one's that have knocked us out every time.
"The likes of Rory Best, who has been with Ulster for such a long time, he just wants . . . I mean it is 2006 since we last won the league. For us to be taken seriously, we've got the facilities, we've got super coaching and another great coach coming in [Les Kiss] and another big signing [Charles Piutau] in over a year's time, but at the end of the day trophies and winning things are what a team is graded on.
Good position
“I want to win silverware with Ulster rugby. I think we are in a good position to do it this year.”
The final being slated for Ravenhill reinforces this point.
“It would be such a shame to have this final going on and us not to be involved in it. We would be devastated.
“As a team we have always lacked that small bit, I don’t know whether it is motivation or what it is, to get ourselves over that finish line. Maybe this could be the thing to push us on, home field advantage in a final would be enormous for us.
“ We want to be the top province, we want to be the team that is leading the way, but until we start getting to finals and winning finals, we’re not going to be taken seriously.”
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