Ulster hope to bounce back after a disappointing 17-11 defeat against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun stadium in Round 14 of the BKT United Rugby Championship. A losing bonus point on the night meant that the province stay in third place in the URC table but with little room for error with the top eight all close behind.
The team are straight back into action with a trip to Durban to take on the Sharks at the Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium in the rescheduled round 6 match.
Ulster assistant coach Dan Soper says the squad can take a lot from their previous experiences in South Africa into the tie.
On South Africa preparation
"It’s a challenge but in fairness to the medical and performance team there has been a lot of thought into how we can best prepare ourselves and how we go about this week. We are physically preparing for them, we aren’t using the travel or heat as an excuse. The guys have been preparing with hot baths and we will be ready for Saturday.
The players will have learned from their previous trips, the more you do it the better you get at it we have and factored that into preparation for this one."
On Glasgow Warriors defeat
"We were disappointed in how clinical we were against Glasgow. The weather conditions were challenging but we need to keep improving on our fundamentals. We got a lot of things right however there were some areas that let us down and we’ve had a good look at that this week.
On their playing surface stopping mauls at source is key and our forwards were disappointed but they are a determined bunch and we will see better this week."
On Cell C Sharks
" A big challenge, their last game against the Lions, the Sharks overpowered them and have very dangerous powerful players so it's an excellent challenge for us."
The squad are undergoing heat preparation in order to try and acclimatise to hotter weather conditions in Durban, where the weather and humidity are much different from Belfast.
Ulster flanker Jordi Murphy outlined how the team were feeling after Glasgow and how his match prep was going for Durban.
On Glasgow learnings
" We were definitely disappointed, we had a good game plan in place but we didn’t capitalise on our opportunities. As a forward pack we let ourselves down at the set piece, in our lineouts and maul defence. We had chances in their 22 but they identified us well and came out on top."
On positives
"It was important to get a losing bonus point, obviously we didn’t want to be that way but they had gotten a bit ahead of us. I felt the boys stuck to task well on that last play and John (Cooney) knocked it over for three points. That point could make a big difference."
On the quick turnaround to South Africa
" It's tough, we aren’t going to make excuses about it, we are professionals. We can talk about climate and schedule but at end of day its two teams against each other. if we are switched on mentally we have a good chance. It will be a physical test and we hoped to play it a while ago but its come around again and we are really looking forward to it."
On the challenges this week
"Its close to 24 hours of travel, so we have try and get as much sleep as you can on the flights, it will be hot over there so try and do some heat acclimatisation , saunas, hot baths, staying hydrated, anything that will help.
You have to be vigilant because if you don’t do it up until the day before you can get a serious shock to the system."
On Cell C Sharks challenge
" No games are easy in this league, we expect to win more games and we don’t shy away from reviewing things when we don't win but we want to turn it around."