But they don't have to wait too much longer to begin to put that right, as the GUINNESS PRO12 returns on the weekend of September 4.
Neil Doak's men open up their campaign at the Kingspan against the Ospreys, who were also semi-finalists last year, before a historically tricky trip to Scarlets.
After a three-week break Ulster will then play Benetton Treviso, Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues respectively - and Black is confident they'll be flying high in the table by then.
"We know that a lot of teams are also going to have players missing so it's a key opportunity for us to get a good start," Black told Ulster's official website.
"We've targeted the first five games - if we can get five wins that will put us in a good place to finish in the top two at the end of the season and that is a minimum requirement for this squad.
"When the boys come back from the World Cup hopefully we'll be in a good place and they can add to that on their return.
"The way last season finished was hard to take and it took a while to get over it. But it has added motivation for us to come back again this season and really take it a step further, because we know we're good enough."
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