Ulster and Ireland captain Rory Best is relishing the challenge that faces his team as they look ahead to the final two games of the Guinness PRO12 regular season.
Ulster currently sit 4th in the PRO12 league table and know that wins at home to Leinster on Saturday and away to Ospreys a week later will guarantee a place in the semi-finals.
Speaking at a media call at Kingspan Stadium earlier this week, Best said, “We might get a chance if Munster beat the Scarlets but the best way to do it is to make sure we keep it in our own destiny so for me, that means it is effectively knockout rugby. We’ve chipped off two wins in our last couple of games (Connacht home and Zebre away) and teams around us have faltered a little bit so now we find ourselves in the top four. When you get to this stage of the season, all you can ask for is to have control of your own destiny and we’ve managed to get ourselves back into that position.”
Best is well aware of the talent available to Leinster, who boast no less than 10 of his fellow Ireland internationals in their match day XV, however he insists that the focus will remain on what Ulster will bring to the game:
“Leinster have so many players and a huge depth of international talent, but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We’ll have to stop them at the gain line and be really physical around that, but ultimately when we get out chances we have to be clinical with them because Leinster generally don’t concede a lot of tries.”
Back in November, Leinster edged out Ulster 8-3 in an energy-sapping battle at the RDS, so the Ulster hooker knows his team will have to be at their efficient best if they are to get the win on Saturday:
“To beat Leinster you’ve got the be accurate, you’ve got to be ruthless. When you get the chance to score you’ve got to take it and when you’ve got the chance to stop them scoring you’ve got to make sure you’re on the money with your tackles. Against Leinster if you can dominate the gain line and be really accurate with the ball, keep it through phases, you can do well. If you turn it over easily or let them build momentum, they’re a quality side and they’re very hard to beat.”
With this hugely anticipated encounter sold out weeks in advance, Best also acknowledged the impact the ‘16th man’ has in these games:
“Ever since I’ve came here as a child to Ulster games, the atmosphere has been brilliant. However, as players we know that when the team starts with intent, the crowd feeds off that. When this crowd has something to feed on, it is an intimidating a crowd as I’ve ever played in front of in club rugby.”
Kick-off on Saturday is 3.00pm at Kingspan Stadium, and will be shown live on Sky Sports 1.
This match is completely sold out thanks to your wonderful support. The only way of guaranteeing entry into each game during the 2016/17 season is through a Season Ticket, which are now on sale via www.ulsterrugby.com/seasontickets
Ulster currently sit 4th in the PRO12 league table and know that wins at home to Leinster on Saturday and away to Ospreys a week later will guarantee a place in the semi-finals.
Speaking at a media call at Kingspan Stadium earlier this week, Best said, “We might get a chance if Munster beat the Scarlets but the best way to do it is to make sure we keep it in our own destiny so for me, that means it is effectively knockout rugby. We’ve chipped off two wins in our last couple of games (Connacht home and Zebre away) and teams around us have faltered a little bit so now we find ourselves in the top four. When you get to this stage of the season, all you can ask for is to have control of your own destiny and we’ve managed to get ourselves back into that position.”
Best is well aware of the talent available to Leinster, who boast no less than 10 of his fellow Ireland internationals in their match day XV, however he insists that the focus will remain on what Ulster will bring to the game:
“Leinster have so many players and a huge depth of international talent, but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We’ll have to stop them at the gain line and be really physical around that, but ultimately when we get out chances we have to be clinical with them because Leinster generally don’t concede a lot of tries.”
Back in November, Leinster edged out Ulster 8-3 in an energy-sapping battle at the RDS, so the Ulster hooker knows his team will have to be at their efficient best if they are to get the win on Saturday:
“To beat Leinster you’ve got the be accurate, you’ve got to be ruthless. When you get the chance to score you’ve got to take it and when you’ve got the chance to stop them scoring you’ve got to make sure you’re on the money with your tackles. Against Leinster if you can dominate the gain line and be really accurate with the ball, keep it through phases, you can do well. If you turn it over easily or let them build momentum, they’re a quality side and they’re very hard to beat.”
With this hugely anticipated encounter sold out weeks in advance, Best also acknowledged the impact the ‘16th man’ has in these games:
“Ever since I’ve came here as a child to Ulster games, the atmosphere has been brilliant. However, as players we know that when the team starts with intent, the crowd feeds off that. When this crowd has something to feed on, it is an intimidating a crowd as I’ve ever played in front of in club rugby.”
Kick-off on Saturday is 3.00pm at Kingspan Stadium, and will be shown live on Sky Sports 1.
This match is completely sold out thanks to your wonderful support. The only way of guaranteeing entry into each game during the 2016/17 season is through a Season Ticket, which are now on sale via www.ulsterrugby.com/seasontickets