Ulster Rugby v Leinster Rugby

“IT’S GREAT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO THE PROVINCE” Dublin-born Alan O’Connor may have spent his formative years in the sub-academy of today’s opponents Leinster but, with six seasons and 85 caps now under his belt at Kingspan Stadium, there can be no doubt the second row forward has the blood of an “Any Leinster team brings a good pack, a good set-piece, and are really good around the pick-and-go area,” he warns. “They can hold the ball for ages – we saw that against us [in the quarter-final], when they held the ball for eight straight minutes.” ALAN O'CON

Ulsterman coursing through his veins. In advance of today’s showdown with his native Province, O’Connor speaks with passion and pride about individual and collective achievements this season – and stresses how desperately Ulster want to win this evening’s match-up, despite already having booked a Guinness PRO14 play-off spot. “I don’t think you can ever call an inter-pro a dead rubber,” he insists. “Leinster are going well of course, but they’ve lost a couple of games as well recently, so it’ll be a big momentum swing if we can get this win and then build for the Connacht game.” “We’ve played them up here a good few times at the end of the season and we’ve always enjoyed those games; so obviously with the year we’ve had, and having played them already a couple of times, we’ll be looking to get one back on them.” It’s evident O’Connor is seeking payback after last month’s narrowest of defeats in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium – but is wary of the threat last year’s double-winners will bring.

“Then again two weekends ago, I was watching them against Glasgow and they held the ball for 40-plus phases – although Glasgow held them out. So we’re expecting a pretty monumental challenge and Jared [Payne, Defence Coach] will have us primed for in and around the tight areas.” The lock is convinced, however, that the never-say-die spirit displayed by Ulster this year will stand them in good stead: “When the chips are down with this team we just seem to bounce back. I think it’s shown with the amount of times we’ve come back late in games – even at 80 minutes plus we’ve delivered when we’ve needed to. Edinburgh was a game where we needed to deliver, and we got the job done.” O’Connor has amassed 22 appearances this term, with 10 as captain – a responsibility the 26-year-old is relishing amongst a squad that he feels is continually improving. “Being captain is a challenge in itself,” he admits. “But when you’re around guys who are willing to work hard, go flat-out and put the hammer to the wall, it makes your job a lot easier – when you have guys like Hendy [Iain Henderson], Jordi [Murphy],

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