Ulster Rugby v Leinster

expect to lose any and the one that we lost away to Zebre was particularly disappointing but if we can finish strong up to the Autumn Internationals then I think that we’ll look back and we’ll see that we’ve taken a lot of forward steps. We’ll have progressed and made strong improvements and that’s the main thing. It would certainly be nice to be back in an Ulster shirt and back winning but for the moment the focus is on continual improvement. Tonight, you’ll be earning your 200th cap for Ulster – how do you feel about that achievement? It is a special milestone. For me personally, for it to be my 200th cap on an Inter-pro match night, this is what you want, you want to have a big game for what will hopefully be a big occasion personally for me. It’s an exciting but nerve- wrecking day. It really doesn’t seem that long ago since the first cap out here. To have that opportunity to play 200 times for your province is fantastic. You grew up dreaming of playing for Ulster – did you ever imagine that you’d hit that 200 mark? I think when you’re young you don’t. To play for Ulster is a dream in itself and then you get that one cap and all you want to do is make sure that it’s not just the one cap but that you get a few. And as you start to rack them up you look at other milestones, 50, 100, 150, but to look way on to 200 - when I started it seemed an impossibility because no one was anywhere near it. It’s a wee bit different now when you look at the speed that Craig Gilroy got to 149 caps on its frightening but that is the modern game. Looking back at your 199 previous games – are there any particular moments that stand out for you? The first cap playing against Munster in 2004. There seems to have been any number of games against Leinster. I remember the win we had in the RDS which was against all odds. The Munster Heineken cup quarter final. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I made the debut and this is now my 14th season which is hard to believe. There’s been a lot of really good memories and fun times

in this Ulster shirt and hopefully still a few more to come. I know you’re a big family man - it must be extra special to have shared some of those moments with your brother Simon as well? Yeah, there’s no doubt that to have had Simon already on the pitch was really important for me. It’s a very nervous time whenever you make your debut for provincial or internationals and to have a familiar face there, someone to support you and calm you down was great. And I still appreciate his support and influence. Simon’s two boys and my eldest are on they’re the same team at Banbridge - it’s great to see the fun that they’re having together and it’s also nice for me to have a familiar face standing on the sideline, especially when we don’t win the night before it’s nice to talk to him because he’s been there and done it and he knows what it’s like.

19

www. ULSTERRUGBY .com