Ulster back row David McCann has highlighted the significance of this weekend’s clash against Benetton, describing it as a potential turning point for the team’s season. After a disappointing home defeat to Zebre last month, Ulster has slipped to ninth place in the United Rugby Championship (URC), leaving them with plenty of ground to cover in the final eight games to secure a playoff spot.

Benetton currently sit two places below Ulster, but both teams are tied on 23 points, making this encounter crucial. McCann stressed the importance of this match, saying, "I think we have the potential to go there and get a result that can turn around our season and give us that momentum going into the next few weeks. It is massive for us. We've had a few weeks of training under our belt so it's implementing all the things we've been working on, and we should get the result if we do that accurately."

Ulster's recent form has been inconsistent, with just one win in their last five league games. The loss to Zebre on January 26th was particularly painful, marking their first-ever home defeat to the Italian side. Reflecting on that setback, McCann added, "We are definitely still using it as motivation for ways we have to get better and not forgetting about that result on our home pitch. It is good for motivation, but we have definitely taken the learnings and moved on."

The back row also acknowledged the team’s struggles during that match, stating, "We were compounding mistakes and I think we could sense we were doing that. We should have reacted better and identified that during the game, we tried to, but we had a lot of mistakes. With an inexperienced team, it is about taking those learnings and being concise about changing that."

As Ulster prepares for this critical fixture, McCann’s focus remains on turning the lessons from past setbacks into positive on-field performances. A win against Benetton could be the catalyst needed to reignite their season and push for a playoff berth.