Better whisper it around Ravenhill, especially if big Jeremy Davidson is anywhere within ear shot.

But French club Castres, the south of France outfit Davidson and his mate, former Ulster coach Mark McCall, left at the end of last season after their struggle for survival in the Top 14, look a very different outfit this season.

Castres were top of the French Championship last week, ahead of last season’s beaten finalists Clermont-Auvergne and reigning champions Perpignan. OK, they lost last weekend to Perpignan, 17-15, in a desperately close game but they’re still right in the picture, just a point off the lead in second place. Under new coaches Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit, they have been transformed.

But then, as Davidson is showing through his work with Ulster, a change of coaches can have a magical, mystifying effect and raise spirits. It has happened too often in the history of sports teams for it to be a coincidence.