Rob Herring will become the seventh Ulster man to reach the 200-appearance milestone when he takes the field at Kingspan Stadium on Friday evening. First of all Rob, congratulations on reaching the 200-appearance milestone! You will be joining quite an exclusive club – can you sum up how that feels? It’s a great feeling. It’s something I will be pretty proud of. I’ve played with all the guys who made 200 appearances during my time here. They’re legends of Ulster and to get anywhere near them isn’t something I thought I would achieve when I first signed for the province. It’s been an incredible journey and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m massively proud to get that milestone. A lot of people around me have made sacrifices for me to be in this position and I want to do them justice. Cast your mind back to your first season at Ulster in 2012; how have your ambitions changed – if at all – as a player since joining the province? When I first arrived, I came over on a two-year contract, but I had things going on back in South Africa – I had just started studying – so we came to an agreement that it would be a seven-month trial to see if I enjoyed it and Ulster wanted to keep me. I came over with no expectations, really - I didn’t know much about Belfast or Ulster. In my first season, things started to progress, and I was playing decent rugby. Of course, my goals changed over time. It was to get my first Ulster cap, then I thought maybe I could get 10, then 50. I then thought about international selection and that shifted again. I started believing I could play at that level and that’s what I’ve been chasing since then. I want to play as much as I can for Ulster and keep playing international rugby.
Hopefully I’ll win something with Ulster over the next few years. That has become a major goal for the team and for me. That’s something that really drives me on with Ulster.Read the full interview with Rob in Friday's digital match programme.