In the absence of Rory Best and Rob Herring, hooker John Andrew is looking forward to making his third start for Ulster against Edinburgh on Friday evening.
Ironically, it was around the same time last season when Andrew made his first two starts for the province.
“I got a couple of starts last year at around the same time during the Six Nations. Rory was away (on international duty) and I think Rob had a knock back then too. I’m really looking forward to getting back out and getting another start.”
There are a limited number of tickets remaining for this game, priced from just £17 for adults and £12 for children. Tickets can be purchased through www.ulsterrugby.com/buytickets or you can pay on the gate from 6.05pm on Friday.
Andrew has already made 7 replacement appearances this season, bringing his total caps tally to 20, and the 23-year-old is looking forward to make the most of his latest opportunity.
“I didn’t know that Rob wouldn’t be fit but he’s unfortunately picked up a knock and that’s the way you get a chance in this game.
“Someone picks up a knock and you have to go out and perform and do so to the best of your ability and then you can give the coaches a bit of a selection headache when everyone’s fit.”
Andrew has been in impressive form this season, most prominently for the Ulster A team, where has captained the side to a place in the knockout stages of the British & Irish Cup. However, the young hooker knows he must be ready to step up and perform on the bigger stage.
“You’re under more scrutiny as everyone can see your lineouts and the scrum has to go well too and it’s hard for any team to make inroads if both those areas aren’t working.”
“So you’re under the microscope a bit but we’ve got good players either side of you and in the second row so that takes a bit of pressure off.”
In the reverse fixture at Murrayfield back in November, Edinburgh stormed to a 28-17 victory over Ulster, and Andrew is expecting that it will be an equally tough test for the forwards this week.
“We do a lot of analysis on every team but we know that Edinburgh are a big and physical pack.
“We’ve been working on our ourselves and we know if we perform to at our best we can give them a real go in the scrums.
“Last week we got a good amount of work done and did more contact than would probably be the case in an ordinary match week and that, along with the break, seems to have freshened the boys up.”
Friday night kicks-off a run of five PRO12 games in as many weeks for Ulster, and Andrew acknowledges it is a crucial period as the team chase a play-off spot.
“In this block of games, we’re just trying to get a bit of momentum back.
“We know that when we get things right, we can give teams a bit of a headache so we just need to go out and perform and get the basics right and get the win.”
Ironically, it was around the same time last season when Andrew made his first two starts for the province.
“I got a couple of starts last year at around the same time during the Six Nations. Rory was away (on international duty) and I think Rob had a knock back then too. I’m really looking forward to getting back out and getting another start.”
There are a limited number of tickets remaining for this game, priced from just £17 for adults and £12 for children. Tickets can be purchased through www.ulsterrugby.com/buytickets or you can pay on the gate from 6.05pm on Friday.
Andrew has already made 7 replacement appearances this season, bringing his total caps tally to 20, and the 23-year-old is looking forward to make the most of his latest opportunity.
“I didn’t know that Rob wouldn’t be fit but he’s unfortunately picked up a knock and that’s the way you get a chance in this game.
“Someone picks up a knock and you have to go out and perform and do so to the best of your ability and then you can give the coaches a bit of a selection headache when everyone’s fit.”
Andrew has been in impressive form this season, most prominently for the Ulster A team, where has captained the side to a place in the knockout stages of the British & Irish Cup. However, the young hooker knows he must be ready to step up and perform on the bigger stage.
“You’re under more scrutiny as everyone can see your lineouts and the scrum has to go well too and it’s hard for any team to make inroads if both those areas aren’t working.”
“So you’re under the microscope a bit but we’ve got good players either side of you and in the second row so that takes a bit of pressure off.”
In the reverse fixture at Murrayfield back in November, Edinburgh stormed to a 28-17 victory over Ulster, and Andrew is expecting that it will be an equally tough test for the forwards this week.
“We do a lot of analysis on every team but we know that Edinburgh are a big and physical pack.
“We’ve been working on our ourselves and we know if we perform to at our best we can give them a real go in the scrums.
“Last week we got a good amount of work done and did more contact than would probably be the case in an ordinary match week and that, along with the break, seems to have freshened the boys up.”
Friday night kicks-off a run of five PRO12 games in as many weeks for Ulster, and Andrew acknowledges it is a crucial period as the team chase a play-off spot.
“In this block of games, we’re just trying to get a bit of momentum back.
“We know that when we get things right, we can give teams a bit of a headache so we just need to go out and perform and get the basics right and get the win.”