Rob Herring, who was released by Ireland to skipper Ulster in Italy to a 32-13 Guinness PRO12 win, reflected on the importance of the victory, and on the contrasting performances of his side in each half.
“First, that try-bonus point is important, it takes us right back into the frame for the end-of-season play-offs, we’re right on the fringe of the Top Four now.
“We’ll look back on that first half, when we went in just 6-3 ahead, and we’ll be disappointed with that. We just didn’t get into the game as we planned, as we knew we had to if we were to control the match,” says Herring.
“Treviso hasn’t been winning games, but they are always tough at home, in front of their own fans, and they made it difficult for us. We came unstuck a little bit in the first 40 minutes, there was a scrum-penalty against us, and they kicked a penalty after an infringement at the maul, so we knew we had to eradicate any ill-discipline.
“I think we came out for the second half and we knew we had to be positive, but it was our defence which was the platform for the win, we were very satisfied with how we performed in that area, though we were disappointed to concede a try near the end,” he said, emphasising that keeping the Ulster line intact is always a target each and every game.
“We got the four tries we wanted, and we managed to stop the threat from Treviso when the ball was spread wide, so we have things we can be satisfied with from Saturday on a very heavy pitch,” he says.
Herring was particularly pleased that again Ulster had introduced two relatively new faces during the game from the bench, and each of them impressed in the second half.
“Lorcan Dow and Jacob Stockdale just showed what great young talent there is, coming through from the Academy and from the clubs, and they both played their part in securing what may well be an important five points.”
Director of Rugby, Les Kiss, had continued with his policy of blooding the younger players available to him, and Dow and Stockdale followed in the steps of Kyle McCall with displays of poise, pace and guile.
“They brought a real energy to the game and to the team, and we all fed off that, and it’s just so good for Ulster that we are seeing this quality of young player come in and fit in so well.
“We’ve now got three games in the PRO12 in a row at Kingspan, and we love playing in front of our own crowd, and we will be looking for a full haul of points from those games, starting with the visit of the Dragons on Friday evening,” said Herring.
For all the right reasons the skipper in Treviso is hoping he may not be involved against the Dragons as he returns immediately to the Ireland Six Nations training camp.
“I enjoyed the last week working with the squad, I can only hope I get a ‘shot’ for the bench. Bestie (Rory) is obviously going to start, and there are three of us fighting for that No.16 jersey against Wales on Sunday at the Aviva Stadium.
“Look, all I can do is my job, play as well in games like Treviso as I can, because we are all being studied, work hard in training and just hope Joe Schmidt might think it’s worthwhile giving me a spot.
“But most of all it’s about Ireland winning and playing well, whoever is in the matchday squad. And it would be a great boost for all of us from here if Ulster can start the ball rolling with a PRO12 win on Friday night!”
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