Les Kiss has paid tribute to the vocal Ulster supporters who attended Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi to see his squad serve up a seven-try win over Zebre that pushes them into a play-off position.
“The support was massive, it was really good. Right throughout the city there was a presence and it was fantastic to see. They were very vocal, which was nice. I’m glad the boys put on a few tries for them,” said Kiss, clearly happy with his side’s display.
A 17-47 bonus point win in Parma, coupled with Scarlets’ defeat against Glasgow, elevated Ulster into fourth position in the table with just two regular season games still to play.
“It’s mission accomplished,” he insisted. “Five points was what we expected from ourselves and it’s what was expected of us, so it’s good to deliver that. We’ve put together a good couple of games, beating Connacht and now Zebre. We’re in the top four, and it’s our job to stay there.”
Kiss was delighted to see his backline looking so dangerous, with Paddy Jackson, Man of the Match Stuart Olding and Luke Marshall putting in excellent shifts, while Ruan Pienaar, Craig Gilroy, Jared Payne (three tries) and the returning Tommy Bowe (two tries) all crossed the whitewash.
“Paddy and Stuart were fantastic in the first half and that set the platform. They controlled things very well and brought others into the game with their penetrative running and their passing ability. Unfortunately Paddy took a knock just above the knee but that gave us an opportunity to look at Stuart in the ten jersey in the second half and I thought he did very well.
“I’m really pleased for Tommy. He knows he's still not at his best but it’s great to have him back and great to have him play 80 minutes and get a couple of meat pies,” joked the Australian.
But despite his jovial manner, Kiss wasn’t keen to bask in glory after the win, and instead turned his attention to the match against Leinster on 30th April:
“We’ve got two good preparation weeks building for what is a classic in our calendar. Leinster did well to get there win over Edinburgh - it’s not going to be easy, we know that. At Kingspan last year we did a job on them and it’s up to us to do the same again. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a massive atmosphere and our boys will be up for it.”
“The support was massive, it was really good. Right throughout the city there was a presence and it was fantastic to see. They were very vocal, which was nice. I’m glad the boys put on a few tries for them,” said Kiss, clearly happy with his side’s display.
A 17-47 bonus point win in Parma, coupled with Scarlets’ defeat against Glasgow, elevated Ulster into fourth position in the table with just two regular season games still to play.
“It’s mission accomplished,” he insisted. “Five points was what we expected from ourselves and it’s what was expected of us, so it’s good to deliver that. We’ve put together a good couple of games, beating Connacht and now Zebre. We’re in the top four, and it’s our job to stay there.”
Kiss was delighted to see his backline looking so dangerous, with Paddy Jackson, Man of the Match Stuart Olding and Luke Marshall putting in excellent shifts, while Ruan Pienaar, Craig Gilroy, Jared Payne (three tries) and the returning Tommy Bowe (two tries) all crossed the whitewash.
“Paddy and Stuart were fantastic in the first half and that set the platform. They controlled things very well and brought others into the game with their penetrative running and their passing ability. Unfortunately Paddy took a knock just above the knee but that gave us an opportunity to look at Stuart in the ten jersey in the second half and I thought he did very well.
“I’m really pleased for Tommy. He knows he's still not at his best but it’s great to have him back and great to have him play 80 minutes and get a couple of meat pies,” joked the Australian.
But despite his jovial manner, Kiss wasn’t keen to bask in glory after the win, and instead turned his attention to the match against Leinster on 30th April:
“We’ve got two good preparation weeks building for what is a classic in our calendar. Leinster did well to get there win over Edinburgh - it’s not going to be easy, we know that. At Kingspan last year we did a job on them and it’s up to us to do the same again. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a massive atmosphere and our boys will be up for it.”