There is a fact that has been repeated often this week. No team has won a play-off away from home in the PRO12. Tommy Bowe and the rest of the Ulster players have their eyes set on ending that record when they run out at Scotstoun:
“We can do it,” concludes the British and Irish Lions winger. “Teams have won away from home in the final. (Bowe was part of the Ospreys team that won the Celtic League in the RDS against Leinster in 2010). It is crazy to think that no-one has won an away play off and we would like to create that piece of history. We want to win the play-off and then go and win the final - that would be massive for us.”
Ulster will line out against a Glasgow team who they are very familiar with:
Tommy says: “We have played Glasgow on many occasions. They a really good side and they have a great squad. However, we know that on our day that we have the quality to beat any team in the league. Certainly, we will be feeling that going over there tomorrow.
“Glasgow have a lot of dangerous players and score a lot of tries. Their defence is really good too. Both teams will be going into the play off and neither team will want to give anything away. It’s going to be a tight match.”
The team know that they are just one game from the final, but not just that - they are just one game away from a final at the home of Ulster Rugby - Kingspan Stadium. Tommy believes that extra edge could prove decisive:
He says: “It gives us more motivation than other teams because we know that if we win that game we will be playing a final at home. For other sides they know that they might be playing at home this weekend but if they got to a final they will be playing away. That maybe gives us that small, little extra incentive.”
While there is expectation on the players, there is also huge determination to win a first trophy since 2006:
“That would be fantastic, says Bowe. “I was part of it when Humph (David Humphreys) kicked the ball through the posts at Liberty Stadium. With the teams that we have had over the years, it is disappointing that that was our last trophy. We have talked about it many times that we want to be part of a winning team, but there are only so many times that you can keep going on about it before you actually have to go out and do it. With the home final, we really have something to aim for.”
If they win the PRO12, Tommy and this Ulster team will be history makers in more ways than one.