Ulster A Head Coach Alex Codling has called on supporters to come along Kingspan Stadium this Friday night to help them open the British & Irish Cup campaign with a win.
Ulster A Head Coach Alex Codling has called on supporters to come along Kingspan Stadium this Friday night (7.30pm) to help them open the British & Irish Cup campaign with a win.
Season ticket holders can access complimentary tickets to the match against Championship side Bristol, who have some top level talent at their disposal, such as British & Irish Lions Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel and Ian Evans, as well as Matthew Morgan (Wales) and Jack Lam (Samoa), who both played at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Please click here to purchase tickets. Season ticket holders can click here to access their accounts.
Looking at the quality of players Bristol has on its roster, Codling said: “Rugby’s about challenges and they will certainly provide that. They are obviously one of the favourites to go up to the Premiership this year; they did very well last season and narrowly missed out. They’ve always treated this competition very seriously and we’re expecting a really tough challenge.
“We’re hoping that the supporters that aren’t going over to Oyannax will come along on Friday and push the boys on and see the next generation of Ulster players coming through,” he continued.
While Codling was disappointed with the results in the warm up fixtures against Connacht and Leinster, he says there were positives to take from those outings:
“Certainly, we wanted to win and are disappointed that we didn’t in those two games, but we’re glad that we had players that really stood out.
“We also had club players like Callum Patterson and Rodger McBurney who stepped up and were tremendous when they came in for the last game against Leinster.
“The role of the A team is very much about giving the boys an opportunity to push their way into the first team and I think the proof of that is that Kyle McCall and Stephen Mulholland played in the PRO12 against Dragons at the weekend. Both were excellent in our game against Leinster and I think they acquitted themselves very well against Dragons.”
But the ex-England second row knows the pressure is on to pick up wins, now that attention has turned to the B&I Cup. “We’re keen to start off with not only good individual performances but also a good team display on Friday. I think it’s about executing under pressure. If you look at the Connacht and Leinster games, they are friendlies for want of a better word, but this has a tangible outcome in terms of silverware at the end of it.
“It’s a competition that didn’t go as well as we wanted it to last season, so we’re very focused on doing as well as we can and to start off with a bang on Friday. The fact that it’s here at Kingspan Stadium gives the game an extra edge,” concluded Codling.
Ulster A Head Coach Alex Codling has called on supporters to come along Kingspan Stadium this Friday night (7.30pm) to help them open the British & Irish Cup campaign with a win.
Season ticket holders can access complimentary tickets to the match against Championship side Bristol, who have some top level talent at their disposal, such as British & Irish Lions Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel and Ian Evans, as well as Matthew Morgan (Wales) and Jack Lam (Samoa), who both played at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Please click here to purchase tickets. Season ticket holders can click here to access their accounts.
Looking at the quality of players Bristol has on its roster, Codling said: “Rugby’s about challenges and they will certainly provide that. They are obviously one of the favourites to go up to the Premiership this year; they did very well last season and narrowly missed out. They’ve always treated this competition very seriously and we’re expecting a really tough challenge.
“We’re hoping that the supporters that aren’t going over to Oyannax will come along on Friday and push the boys on and see the next generation of Ulster players coming through,” he continued.
While Codling was disappointed with the results in the warm up fixtures against Connacht and Leinster, he says there were positives to take from those outings:
“Certainly, we wanted to win and are disappointed that we didn’t in those two games, but we’re glad that we had players that really stood out.
“We also had club players like Callum Patterson and Rodger McBurney who stepped up and were tremendous when they came in for the last game against Leinster.
“The role of the A team is very much about giving the boys an opportunity to push their way into the first team and I think the proof of that is that Kyle McCall and Stephen Mulholland played in the PRO12 against Dragons at the weekend. Both were excellent in our game against Leinster and I think they acquitted themselves very well against Dragons.”
But the ex-England second row knows the pressure is on to pick up wins, now that attention has turned to the B&I Cup. “We’re keen to start off with not only good individual performances but also a good team display on Friday. I think it’s about executing under pressure. If you look at the Connacht and Leinster games, they are friendlies for want of a better word, but this has a tangible outcome in terms of silverware at the end of it.
“It’s a competition that didn’t go as well as we wanted it to last season, so we’re very focused on doing as well as we can and to start off with a bang on Friday. The fact that it’s here at Kingspan Stadium gives the game an extra edge,” concluded Codling.