With just ten days to go until the opening weekend of the 2013-14 Heineken Cup campaign, the four Irish provincial captains met today in Dublin for the second ERC competition launch of the week.
Spirits were high today in the Burlington Plaza where ERC chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux welcomed the Head Coaches and Captains of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, as well as a large media contingent, to the launch of the 19th season of European club rugby tournaments which will reach a climax in ...
With just ten days to go until the opening weekend of the 2013-14 Heineken Cup campaign, the four Irish provincial captains met today in Dublin for the second ERC competition launch of the week. Spirits were high today in the Burlington Plaza where ERC chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux welcomed the Head Coaches and Captains of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, as well as a large media contingent, to the launch of the 19th season of European club rugby tournaments which will reach a climax in Cardiff in May next year, where both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge finals will be staged. Over one million fans attended Heineken Cup matches last season, and with Irish games ranking the highest for attendance in 2012-13, it is no doubt that Heineken Cup tickets are the hottest in town. Ulster will aim to make their way out of Pool 5 over the coming months and they begin their campaign in just 10 days' time against Leicester Tigers at Ravenhill on Friday 11th October, kick off 20.00. A limited number of tickets remain available for this game and they can be purchased at www.ulsterrugby.com/tickets. Speaking today Head Coach, Mark Anscombe told the media that: "There has been more of an edge at training in the past few weeks, the guys are challenging each other, and the fact that the non 15 are putting pressure on the guys at training each week, is bringing the best out in players. It has been a slow start but it's building in the right direction and I am confident that the past few weeks have been the best training weeks since I've been here." Anscombe is looking to build on last season's performance: "Heineken Cup games are tough, last season we had a tough pool and qualified top, which we haven't done before. But we weren't happy with our Quarter Final performance, Saracens didn't allow us to play rugby, but we are wiser now and hungrier for it. We just have to make sure we don't look for excuses; we need to learn from our mistakes and challenge ourselves to be better this season." Captain, Johann Muller, assured journalists today that this Ulster side is closer than ever to achieving great things: "We are a growing squad, a competitive squad and we have great management so it is just a matter of time before the real success will come. Last year we had so many injuries and we were still able to compete in the league and do really well so we are confident that we can do even better this season, the hunger and the passion within the squad is absolutely massive. Hopefully if we look after one game at a time the success will come." Ulster Rugby Heineken Cup Fixtures 2013-14: Pool 5 Fri 11 Oct Ulster v. Leicester Tigers 20:00 Ravenhill              Sat 19 Oct Montpellier v. Ulster 16:40 Stade Yves du Manoir Sat 7 Dec Ulster v. Treviso 18:00 Ravenhill Sat 14 Dec Treviso v. Ulster 14:35 Stadio Monigo TBD Ulster v. Montpellier TBD Ravenhill TBD Leicester Tigers v. Ulster TBD Welford Road Book your seats now at www.ulsterrugby.com/tickets
With just ten days to go until the opening weekend of the 2013-14 Heineken Cup campaign, the four Irish provincial captains met today in Dublin for the second ERC competition launch of the week. Spirits were high today in the Burlington Plaza where ERC chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux welcomed the Head Coaches and Captains of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, as well as a large media contingent, to the launch of the 19th season of European club rugby tournaments which will reach a climax in Cardiff in May next year, where both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge finals will be staged. Over one million fans attended Heineken Cup matches last season, and with Irish games ranking the highest for attendance in 2012-13, it is no doubt that Heineken Cup tickets are the hottest in town. Ulster will aim to make their way out of Pool 5 over the coming months and they begin their campaign in just 10 days' time against Leicester Tigers at Ravenhill on Friday 11th October, kick off 20.00. A limited number of tickets remain available for this game and they can be purchased at www.ulsterrugby.com/tickets. Speaking today Head Coach, Mark Anscombe told the media that: "There has been more of an edge at training in the past few weeks, the guys are challenging each other, and the fact that the non 15 are putting pressure on the guys at training each week, is bringing the best out in players. It has been a slow start but it's building in the right direction and I am confident that the past few weeks have been the best training weeks since I've been here." Anscombe is looking to build on last season's performance: "Heineken Cup games are tough, last season we had a tough pool and qualified top, which we haven't done before. But we weren't happy with our Quarter Final performance, Saracens didn't allow us to play rugby, but we are wiser now and hungrier for it. We just have to make sure we don't look for excuses; we need to learn from our mistakes and challenge ourselves to be better this season." Captain, Johann Muller, assured journalists today that this Ulster side is closer than ever to achieving great things: "We are a growing squad, a competitive squad and we have great management so it is just a matter of time before the real success will come. Last year we had so many injuries and we were still able to compete in the league and do really well so we are confident that we can do even better this season, the hunger and the passion within the squad is absolutely massive. Hopefully if we look after one game at a time the success will come." Ulster Rugby Heineken Cup Fixtures 2013-14: Pool 5 Fri 11 Oct Ulster v. Leicester Tigers 20:00 Ravenhill              Sat 19 Oct Montpellier v. Ulster 16:40 Stade Yves du Manoir Sat 7 Dec Ulster v. Treviso 18:00 Ravenhill Sat 14 Dec Treviso v. Ulster 14:35 Stadio Monigo TBD Ulster v. Montpellier TBD Ravenhill TBD Leicester Tigers v. Ulster TBD Welford Road Book your seats now at www.ulsterrugby.com/tickets