Five points against Ospreys was a great start to the PRO12 season, but the challenge for the team is to match that result against Scarlets this afternoon. Roger Wilson, who will start his x game for the province, says that its all about maintaining the same high standard of performance: "We had such a good result last week - we just have to go there and back that up," says the backrow forward. "We haven't performed particularly well at Parc Y Scarlets in recent years. We just have to make sure that we do our basics well - keep our physicality at the same level that it was last week." He continues: "A lot of what we talked about from the two warm up games was that we wanted to bring a bit more physicality and bring a bit more line-speed in our defence. We want to close down opposition and not give them too much time on the ball. Nick had some huge collisions against Ospreys - he just brings so much physicality and Willie Faloon as well was smashing boys and getting on the end of things. The collision stats were a lot higher than in the pre-season games and if you get that right you are in a good position to win the match." Wilson missed those pre-season games against Leinster and Edinburgh but is relishing being back in the team for the start of the league campaign: "It was just a bit of a niggly foot injury that kept me out," he says. "It was good to get some game time against Ospreys and great to get the five points. We talked in pre-season about the importance of finishing in the top two if we are to stand a chance of winning the league. We were all made aware that no-one has played in an away semi final and won." As one of the most experienced players in the squad, Wilson is as good a judge as any as to the strength of the Ulster panel this season. He says that there even with World Cup call ups, it's a strong squad, capable of competing for honours: He says: "We have seven away but there are plenty of people of players who can step in. I think we have a good squad now. We talk about our set-piece being the foundation for any performance. Against Opsreys our scrum wasn't quite where we wanted it to be, but our line-out was good - we spoiled there, we mauled well and our kick-offs were good. Our kick-chase and our collisions were excellent and if you get those aspects of the match right, you will be a hard team to beat." This season promises to be a extra-special for Wilson as he approached his 200 th cap for Ulster. He could be the first ever player to hit the milestone with the Province: "Hopefully I will get there'" he says. "With a bit of luck it would be nice to get to the 200 milestone. I'm just enjoying playing and being injury free. As you approach the end of your career you savour it a lot more and you realize that there are not a huge amount of seasons left."Â
News
Roger Wilson: Lets back up the Ospreys result today against Scarlets
12th September 2015
Five points against Ospreys was a great start to the PRO12 season, but the challenge for the team is to match that result against Scarlets this afternoon. Roger Wilson, who will start his x game for the province, says that its all about maintaining the same high standard of performance: "We had such a good result last week - we just have to go there and back that up," says the backrow forward. "We haven't performed particularly well at Parc Y Scarlets in recent years. We just have to make sure that we do our basics well - keep our physicality at the same level that it was last week." He continues: "A lot of what we talked about from the two warm up games was that we wanted to bring a bit more physicality and bring a bit more line-speed in our defence. We want to close down opposition and not give them too much time on the ball. Nick had some huge collisions against Ospreys - he just brings so much physicality and Willie Faloon as well was smashing boys and getting on the end of things. The collision stats were a lot higher than in the pre-season games and if you get that right you are in a good position to win the match." Wilson missed those pre-season games against Leinster and Edinburgh but is relishing being back in the team for the start of the league campaign: "It was just a bit of a niggly foot injury that kept me out," he says. "It was good to get some game time against Ospreys and great to get the five points. We talked in pre-season about the importance of finishing in the top two if we are to stand a chance of winning the league. We were all made aware that no-one has played in an away semi final and won." As one of the most experienced players in the squad, Wilson is as good a judge as any as to the strength of the Ulster panel this season. He says that there even with World Cup call ups, it's a strong squad, capable of competing for honours: He says: "We have seven away but there are plenty of people of players who can step in. I think we have a good squad now. We talk about our set-piece being the foundation for any performance. Against Opsreys our scrum wasn't quite where we wanted it to be, but our line-out was good - we spoiled there, we mauled well and our kick-offs were good. Our kick-chase and our collisions were excellent and if you get those aspects of the match right, you will be a hard team to beat." This season promises to be a extra-special for Wilson as he approached his 200 th cap for Ulster. He could be the first ever player to hit the milestone with the Province: "Hopefully I will get there'" he says. "With a bit of luck it would be nice to get to the 200 milestone. I'm just enjoying playing and being injury free. As you approach the end of your career you savour it a lot more and you realize that there are not a huge amount of seasons left."Â