Next month, Franco van der Merwe's three-year spell at Ulster will draw to a close and the big South African is determined to make the most of his remaining weeks in Belfast.
The 34-year-old has made an impressive 72 appearances for the Province since his arrival in the summer for 2014, and while he didn’t feature in the recent ties against Cardiff and Munster, he’s looking forward to the season finale:
“I think every year since I’ve been here, it’s come down to the last couple of games of the season and, especially this year, it’s very tight at the top. It’s going to be tough every single game for us now.
“We’ve had some very good sessions after the last match and you can see the guys are focused for the last couple of games. We’re definitely looking forward to the last two matches, and hopefully the play offs. I truly believe that we can do it.
“Ever since I got here I quickly realised how special it is to play for the Ulster jersey and it is still such a big privilege to be part of that.
“It would be amazing to be involved in the last few games but at the end of the day it’s not about individuals, it’s about the team. If the team does well and I’m playing, it will be brilliant, if the team does well and I’m not involved, it will still be brilliant.”
Although the Ulster squad’s destiny is in their own hands, their charge to the play-offs was halted last time out when they suffered an agonising 22-20 defeat at Thomond Park.
“Looking at the Munster game, I think the guys played really well. A lot of times we dominated, we kept ball really well and just 1 or 2 errors led to some frustration,” admitted van der Merwe.
“If you look back at some of the games earlier in the season it was similar - small moments can be costly at the end of the game.
“In saying that, I think there were a lot of positives. I wasn’t involved in the game but I could see the passion the guys were playing with, I could see the determination and the commitment.”
Those fighting qualities will be needed again this weekend when Les Kiss’ men travel to Liberty Stadium for a clash against Ospreys, who lie just a point ahead of Ulster in 4th place after losing their last four fixtures.
Van der Merwe, quite rightly, is not taking the Welsh side lightly despite their poor current form:
“I still think they’re a quality side that can produce a brilliant game. They were a bit unfortunate in some of the games, which were very close. I think having home ground advantage and the fact that they are also playing for a spot in the play-offs, will make them very tough opponents.”
Ahead of the last two games, van der Merwe says the squad has been boosted by the news that three of their team-mates will travel with the British & Irish Lions to tour New Zealand this summer.
“It’s only once in four years that you can make that squad and I think for Rory (Best), Iain (Henderson) and Jared (Payne) it’s unbelievable. They have really worked hard and they’ve proven themselves, not just performing for Ulster but also when they are in the Ireland team.
"The squad is really happy for them and you probably saw with the announcement how every one of us cheered when we heard their named read out. Everyone backs them and everyone is so delighted.”
The 34-year-old has made an impressive 72 appearances for the Province since his arrival in the summer for 2014, and while he didn’t feature in the recent ties against Cardiff and Munster, he’s looking forward to the season finale:
“I think every year since I’ve been here, it’s come down to the last couple of games of the season and, especially this year, it’s very tight at the top. It’s going to be tough every single game for us now.
“We’ve had some very good sessions after the last match and you can see the guys are focused for the last couple of games. We’re definitely looking forward to the last two matches, and hopefully the play offs. I truly believe that we can do it.
“Ever since I got here I quickly realised how special it is to play for the Ulster jersey and it is still such a big privilege to be part of that.
“It would be amazing to be involved in the last few games but at the end of the day it’s not about individuals, it’s about the team. If the team does well and I’m playing, it will be brilliant, if the team does well and I’m not involved, it will still be brilliant.”
Although the Ulster squad’s destiny is in their own hands, their charge to the play-offs was halted last time out when they suffered an agonising 22-20 defeat at Thomond Park.
“Looking at the Munster game, I think the guys played really well. A lot of times we dominated, we kept ball really well and just 1 or 2 errors led to some frustration,” admitted van der Merwe.
“If you look back at some of the games earlier in the season it was similar - small moments can be costly at the end of the game.
“In saying that, I think there were a lot of positives. I wasn’t involved in the game but I could see the passion the guys were playing with, I could see the determination and the commitment.”
Those fighting qualities will be needed again this weekend when Les Kiss’ men travel to Liberty Stadium for a clash against Ospreys, who lie just a point ahead of Ulster in 4th place after losing their last four fixtures.
Van der Merwe, quite rightly, is not taking the Welsh side lightly despite their poor current form:
“I still think they’re a quality side that can produce a brilliant game. They were a bit unfortunate in some of the games, which were very close. I think having home ground advantage and the fact that they are also playing for a spot in the play-offs, will make them very tough opponents.”
Ahead of the last two games, van der Merwe says the squad has been boosted by the news that three of their team-mates will travel with the British & Irish Lions to tour New Zealand this summer.
“It’s only once in four years that you can make that squad and I think for Rory (Best), Iain (Henderson) and Jared (Payne) it’s unbelievable. They have really worked hard and they’ve proven themselves, not just performing for Ulster but also when they are in the Ireland team.
"The squad is really happy for them and you probably saw with the announcement how every one of us cheered when we heard their named read out. Everyone backs them and everyone is so delighted.”