Despite coming close before, Saturday’s win was a first in South Africa for the Ulster men in the United Rugby Championship. Michael Lowry feels this shows the progress the squad has made recently.
“It shows how far we’ve come as a team. We’ve grown over the last season, and learnt a lot to be able to come out here and get a great win against a well-drilled side in the Lions.”
Given the game was at Ellis Park, now known as the Emirates Airline Park, it was a special experience for all of the players to be able to compete in a stadium soaked in such significant rugby history, including playing host to the now infamous Rugby World Cup final in 1995.
“It’s an absolute privilege to play at Ellis Park where there is a lot of history. It was something special that we’ll definitely remember for a long time. It’s certainly one of the toughest sides I’ve played, especially on the lungs, and it was incredibly physical.”
Although there were many highs in a game that saw the home and away team take it turns to lead on points, keeping supporters on the edge of their seats until the final whistle, Lowry recognises there were work-ons for future games too.
“We have a lot to improve on, but we can be really happy with how we came out in the second half. That fifteen minutes after half-time was incredibly. I am proud of how we dealt with the Lions’ pressure, and we turned pressure into points, and that was really pleasing.
“It was a bit disappointing at the end, and I don’t know if that was the altitude kicking-in. But we said at the start of the week that we weren’t going to have any excuses about altitude or heat, and we say all that the time that we’re a team that ‘fights for every inch’, and we had to dig in because the Lions came out firing, and we did that, and we got a win in Ellis Park, and we can be incredibly proud.”
Looking ahead to next week, and facing the Cell C Sharks in Round 6, Lowry has his eye on the ultimate prize of doing the double in South Africa – a feat yet to be achieved by any Northern hemisphere team in the URC.
“Every week is a new and different challenge, and the weather is probably a bit different in Durban, as it’ll be a bit more humid, but thankfully we’ll be down at sea level, which will help the lungs recover.
“Sharks have incredibly gifted players, including plenty of Springbok internationals, so we’ll have to prepare like we’re at home. It’s going to be another physical test. The plan for this week is to recover the bodies, rest up, and then we’ll get stuck in.
“We’ll take our learnings, and hopefully get another important win.”
Ulster will face the Cell C Sharks in Round 6 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday, KO 5 15pm (UK/Ireland time).