Ask Ulster loosehead prop, Tom Court, about the weather last Friday night and he just shakes his head: “It’s probably one of the coldest and bleakest nights that I have played in in a good while,” he says. “There is not a lot to take from it other than we have to get things right for this week or there is a good chance that we will get beaten.”
Whatever the weather, the Scarlets will come to Ravenhill confident that they can leave with a win. In the reverse fixture in Llanelli, Simon Easterby’s side recorded a 17 points to 9 win over Ulster.
"They will be coming over here with a sniff of being able to turn us over,” concludes Court. “They are a very professional team and I imagine that they will use their defeat to us in last season's RaboDirect PRO12 play-off as an incentive to spur them on this week. They have been playing well - consistently well all year, especially through the forwards and they will be looking to get stuck in.”
This time last year injuries and international call-ups affected Ulster’s form in mid season. Court believes that such a dip will not be an issue this year:
“Obviously it is a tough period,” he says. “We have had great momentum and we just have to try and keep that going. In the past we have had a lot of issues with the international period lag, where during the RBS 6 Nations and immediately after we have had a drop in form and it has taken us a few weeks to get back in the swing of things.