Matt Williams may not have been so deeply embedded in the dark trenches before, although his departure from Scotland was assuredly not all sweetness and light.

Ulster are bottom of the Magner's League table, Tommy Bowe, Neil Best, Roger Wilson, Justin Harrison and Neil McMillan are on their way out, and a raft of contracts remain to be sorted out before the end of the season - which makes the new coach's entry to the streets of Belfast a little fraught.

With Connacht four points above them on the league table and the possibility of losing out on a Heineken European Cup slot next season, Williams has had little time to feel his way.

But yesterday's news that Paddy Wallace would remain in the province until 2010 marked the Australian's first result of sorts, and as Williams is never anything less than a tsunami of positivity, Ravenhill may hope it will soon feel the effects of the 100-watt smile and see some Ulster players with a bounce in their step.

"Paddy Wallace is a huge player to us," said the coach yesterday. "Not a lot of players in Ireland are as creative as Paddy. I've known that since I had him in the Ireland 'A's back in the 2001 season.

"I have known Paddy for a long time and he is a real talent on the pitch as well as a proud Ulsterman and I consider him one of our top players. He could hold his own in any team in the world and to have him staying is a big plus and a vote of confidence for the team."

Williams inherits a side from which a number of the other big names have decided to take their leave. But far from seeing it as a talent drain he looks to explore how that can act as an incentive to freshen the team.

Right now, though, the best players will play regardless of where they make their home next season.

"We didn't want to lose those guys. To be fair to them they told me before I took the job," said Williams.

"They told me that they were thinking of leaving. It is very hard to say there is an error there. They are young men looking at new challenges and that happens all the time.

"But I do not worry about that. I've been around enough to know that happens to teams and I do not worry about it.

"The team needs freshening and there are young players here looking for opportunities and we will look around at the international market as well.

"But the way I look at it is that we put out the best team we possibly can regardless of when their contracts finish and we perform as best we can.

"We need to get confidence up, perform to attract players and make Ravenhill the threat it always has been."

That starts on Friday against the Dragons, with Connacht playing in Wales against Ospreys on Saturday.

But the stress of jockeying against Connacht for European Cup status is not the way Williams sees it breaking.

He can also look at the players at his disposal and see the sum of the parts not really adding up to last on the table.

"They were in the try-harder syndrome. There was that much disappointment and stress that they couldn't perform. Now I get them to tell a joke before training, relieve pressure and try to allow them to perform.

"No doubt losing a lot of games is hugely stressful," explains Williams.

"My summation was that it was a good team playing below its best. Now I'm inside and that summation is still accurate."