Ulster out to right wrongs

We just didn't look after possession

Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has warned his troops that they must treat the ball with more respect if they are to get back to winning ways in the Pro12 this weekend.

The table toppers suffered their first defeat of the campaign last time out, going down 24-10 to Munster at Thomond Park.

Anscombe rung the changes for that clash, resting a number of key players with a busy period on both the domestic and European front to come.

But with the Scarlets coming to Ravenhill on Friday, the New Zealander is desperate for his side to learn from their recent mistakes when they take on the Welsh region.

"I was pretty pleased with the way the team finished against Munster. They didn't allow them to score for about the last 25 minutes and apart from a couple of pockets of five to 10 minutes in each half I thought the boys battled well," he said.

"You've got to keep possession if you're going to have a chance and we didn't do that. But we just didn't look after the ball in the contact areas very well and they didn't allow us to build pressure.

"If you can't build pressure, you can't score points. We just didn't look after possession.

"Hopefully they'll be wiser and better for it and it will benefit them in the season ahead.

"We move on to the next fixture, which is Scarlets at home in the league and then the mind will focus on Europe and two massively crucial games for us."