Burns primed for Glasgow test

Fly-half Billy Burns can't wait to get the 2019/20 campaign underway with there now less than two weeks until Ulster’s first pre-season fixture against Glasgow Warriors at Kingspan Stadium (Saturday 7th September, 1.30pm). With the start of the PRO14 moved to the end of next month due to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, this has been a pre-season with a difference and players have been given rest weeks in between all the hard toil going on in the gym and on the training paddock. With so much work already in the bank, Burns is eagerly anticipating the return of action at Kingspan Stadium. "I'm sure if you ask any player at any club anywhere in the land, it's the same - there's only so much training you can do and now you really want to rip into it and start again," says the 25-year-old. "Those games can't come quick enough. It's one of those things that every four years, it's slightly weird with a lot of guys away with Ireland or South Africa but it's been great knowing that you can work pretty hard but still have that little bit of down-time to recover in those off weeks. I always like going hard and having that break in between. You can rest up, go away, and come back fresh again. "It's almost like three mini pre-seasons but it's now got to the stage where I think guys just can't wait to play a game of rugby. "You've only to see how Glasgow went last year. They were great and obviously we were on the end of a tough result against them in the semi-final. You want to test yourself against the best early on. With them in our conference this year, it will be good to get a gauge of them early on and how we stand against them. It's massively exciting. "A lot of boys will get opportunities, I imagine, and we're looking forward to getting stuck in." While the World Cup has given it a somewhat different feel, this is a first full pre-season in Ulster for Burns after he arrived from Gloucester in the middle of preparations last time around. So too, Head Coach Dan McFarland, whose first day on the job a year ago came once the usual routine of game weeks had already begun. "It's been nice having Dan in from the start," Burns says. "It's his first real pre-season I suppose, which has been great. "Obviously last year we didn't have the luxury of having him in early. When he arrived we were already into game weeks and those can seem so short that there's not actually that much time out on the pitch where you can do too much. "Last year we slowly started to grasp the style that he wanted and how we wanted to play as a squad but this year it's really enabled us to harness that gameplan. Obviously, with no games they can flog us during the week but it's not aimless work, it's all for a purpose. We've definitely taken a step from last year. There are bits that we did well and bits we're looking to improve on and now is a good time to sort of wind those bits out and push forward. "The growth from week one to now has been great so hopefully we can carry that through the next few weeks and leading into those friendly games and hit the ground running."