Ulster assistant coach Dwayne Peel insists John Cooney wasn’t given the ‘shepherd’s hook’ in Sunday’s Po14 defeat to Connacht at The Aviva.
Cooney was replaced by new signing and former All Black Alby Mathewson at the break as Dan McFarland’s men fell to an off-colour defeat to the Westerners.
It was a notable intervention by McFarland so early in the contest, but Peel says it was a case of sharing out gametime in Ulster’s first game in six months.
Asked by one reporter if the Ireland scrum-half had received the ‘shepherd’s crook’, the former Welsh star replied: “There’s no problem at all with John.
“Obviously having Alby over in the summer, we were keen to give him some time as well knowing what was coming and another game (against Leinster) this week.
“There’s going to be plenty of rugby for us to give to our players, so there was no issue. We didn’t give him the shepherd’s hook.
“It wasn’t a case of ‘he’s playing poorly, we’re going to pull him off’. It was just a case of giving Alby some rugby, John a good 40 minutes and see how things go this week.”
With Cooney and Mathewson set to battle it out for the No9 shirt, Peel belives the signing of the experienced former Munster scrum-half can only benefit Ulster on and off the pitch.
“He’s been great in all honesty,” said Peel. “I worked a bit with Alby at Bristol when I was there a few years ago and he has a lot of experience.
“He’s great with the younger guys and he’s happy to share with the younger No9s, so he’s been invaluable in terms of leadership and he’s a big asset.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him and I thought he played well when he came on at the weekend. He was getting the ball away nicely for us.
“He was also quite aggressive in defence, so he’s obviously a good asset for us and a good signing.”
Asked how Ulster plan on stopping Leinster - who have won their last 22 games and beat Munster at the weekend - this Saturday, Peel said: “It’s a difficult one.
“There’s no doubt Leinster are an outstanding team and having a great season so far, but the thrust of what we’ve spoken about this week is preparing ourselves.
“Using this time to prepare for what’s to come for us. We have a semi-final next week and hopefully thereafter, so this week is all about preparation for ourselves.”
While this week’s fixture is effectively a dead rubber, Peel accepts Ulster need to gain a sense of form and momentum ahead of their Pro14 semi-final with Edinburgh at Murrayfield on September 5.
And as McFarland warned at the weekend, the low levels of intensity and cohesion witnessed against Connacht won’t be enough to win high profile knockout games.
“We have to focus on ourselves and give the best account of ourselves,” said Peel.
“We’ve spoken very honestly over the last couple of days and I’m really excited about this weekend because it’s an opportunity for us to get back into the swing of things.”
Meanwhile, Peel confirmed that centre Luke Marshall - who didn’t feature against Connacht - won’t face Leinster this weekend after “picking up a bit of knock in the pre-season period”.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “Hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later, but he won’t be available this week."
