Charles Piutau is relishing the prospect of facing Munster on New Year's Day, excited by the opportunity to play in front of a sold-out Kingspan Stadium.
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Having made 12 appearances this season, the utility back missed last week’s game as he recovered from a knock in the fixture against Harlequins a fortnight ago.
Now back to fitness, Piutau is ready and willing to do his best to help Ulster apply pressure on Scarlets and Leinster at the top of Conference B of the Guinness PRO14.
He and his team mates are acutely aware of the need to deliver a strong performance:
“Hopefully, come Monday, we’ll make everyone proud,” enthused Piutau. “The pressure is on but I am excited for it. What a day, what an occasion it will be! To play against an in-form Munster team on New Year’s Day, at home in Kingspan Stadium, will be special.
“Training has been tough this week. The intensity is up there and we’re really challenging each other because we know what this game means. We’re one team of players, management and coaches, and we want to get the win for each other. We want to do it for our coaches and for Les (Kiss) because he means a lot to us and does a lot for this club.”
Having been defeated by their Leinster neighbours last weekend, Munster too will be looking to deliver for their fans, and as Piutau says, the Ulstermen are well aware of the challenge posed by the boys in red.
“They kick a lot and it’s good kicking game. They put a lot of pressure on, their defence is very strong and they’ve a lot of line speed. If we could diffuse those things I think we should go alright but it does start with our set piece and laying a platform that our forwards can build on.”
The All Black believes a good win on Monday could kick-start at run of good form in both the PRO12 and Champions Cup.
“As players, we need to transfer what’s happening during the week into the game and that’s not happening consistently. The work at training is brilliant but it’s not being transferred onto the pitch to its full extent. But that could change pretty quickly.
“The coaches have mentioned to us how we need to find momentum and build on what we’re doing. That’s the real challenge of this sport.
“We need to be really disciplined and to stay mentally focused on improvements. We are going to work hard day-to-day and week-by-week and hopefully by the end of January we’ll be in a good position.”
Having made 12 appearances this season, the utility back missed last week’s game as he recovered from a knock in the fixture against Harlequins a fortnight ago.
Now back to fitness, Piutau is ready and willing to do his best to help Ulster apply pressure on Scarlets and Leinster at the top of Conference B of the Guinness PRO14.
He and his team mates are acutely aware of the need to deliver a strong performance:
“Hopefully, come Monday, we’ll make everyone proud,” enthused Piutau. “The pressure is on but I am excited for it. What a day, what an occasion it will be! To play against an in-form Munster team on New Year’s Day, at home in Kingspan Stadium, will be special.
“Training has been tough this week. The intensity is up there and we’re really challenging each other because we know what this game means. We’re one team of players, management and coaches, and we want to get the win for each other. We want to do it for our coaches and for Les (Kiss) because he means a lot to us and does a lot for this club.”
Having been defeated by their Leinster neighbours last weekend, Munster too will be looking to deliver for their fans, and as Piutau says, the Ulstermen are well aware of the challenge posed by the boys in red.
“They kick a lot and it’s good kicking game. They put a lot of pressure on, their defence is very strong and they’ve a lot of line speed. If we could diffuse those things I think we should go alright but it does start with our set piece and laying a platform that our forwards can build on.”
The All Black believes a good win on Monday could kick-start at run of good form in both the PRO12 and Champions Cup.
“As players, we need to transfer what’s happening during the week into the game and that’s not happening consistently. The work at training is brilliant but it’s not being transferred onto the pitch to its full extent. But that could change pretty quickly.
“The coaches have mentioned to us how we need to find momentum and build on what we’re doing. That’s the real challenge of this sport.
“We need to be really disciplined and to stay mentally focused on improvements. We are going to work hard day-to-day and week-by-week and hopefully by the end of January we’ll be in a good position.”