Iain Henderson admits that there is plenty on the line when Exeter Chiefs visit Kingspan Stadium for the round 2 Champions Cup tie tomorrow night (7.45pm).
Both teams were defeated by French opposition in the opening round of the competition last weekend, and Henderson knows that a second consecutive loss would be hugely detrimental to their ambitions to reach the knock out stages.
For Ulster, it was a disappointing performance in Bordeaux on Sunday, and the Ireland international is expecting a much-improved display against Exeter.
“We did not perform well at all after half time. We played the whole second half in our own territory, and that shouldn’t be the situation.
“We should always aim to get out and into their half, and that suits our mobile pack and explosive backs who can break lines and score tries.
“On Saturday, it’s our intention to get out of our half more efficiently and with a better success rate than we did last week.”
The 24-year-old is acutely aware of Exeter’s power up front and he has identified their driving maul as a particular strength.
“They have scored a lot of tries from that aspect of the game. Geoff Parling runs their line-out very well and they have good options outside that as well. But we will just have to kill their big maul at the all-important source and make sure we get men back on our feet to defend.
“Our defence from mauls has been good all season, and statistically we are probably one of the best in the PRO12.
He added: “In Europe, everyone plays as if it’s last chance saloon. We found ourselves in an unfortunate position last year, where we missed out on qualification from the pool by just one point. We did well after a poor start and came back with four wins. We’ll probably need to produce an even better response this season.”
Tickets are still available online via ulsterrugby.com/buytickets and at the gate on match night.
Both teams were defeated by French opposition in the opening round of the competition last weekend, and Henderson knows that a second consecutive loss would be hugely detrimental to their ambitions to reach the knock out stages.
For Ulster, it was a disappointing performance in Bordeaux on Sunday, and the Ireland international is expecting a much-improved display against Exeter.
“We did not perform well at all after half time. We played the whole second half in our own territory, and that shouldn’t be the situation.
“We should always aim to get out and into their half, and that suits our mobile pack and explosive backs who can break lines and score tries.
“On Saturday, it’s our intention to get out of our half more efficiently and with a better success rate than we did last week.”
The 24-year-old is acutely aware of Exeter’s power up front and he has identified their driving maul as a particular strength.
“They have scored a lot of tries from that aspect of the game. Geoff Parling runs their line-out very well and they have good options outside that as well. But we will just have to kill their big maul at the all-important source and make sure we get men back on our feet to defend.
“Our defence from mauls has been good all season, and statistically we are probably one of the best in the PRO12.
He added: “In Europe, everyone plays as if it’s last chance saloon. We found ourselves in an unfortunate position last year, where we missed out on qualification from the pool by just one point. We did well after a poor start and came back with four wins. We’ll probably need to produce an even better response this season.”
Tickets are still available online via ulsterrugby.com/buytickets and at the gate on match night.