Ulster Rugby v Munster

RORY BEST

Thanks to injuries, international duty and British & Irish Lions participation, Rory Best hasn’t been able to get much game time in the Ulster jersey this season the skipper is realishing an opportunity to take on an old rival.

RORY BEST

The wealth of knowledge gained from playing alongside the Munster boys in the Irish jersey, has helped to ready his teammates for what is sure to be another fierce inter-provincial battle. “Munster are going to bring a lot of intensity. They have a very, very strong defence, a really strong back row and a really strong scrum half so they’re going to want to come up and impose their game plan on us. You’ve got to be up to that level and prepare for an attritional game. But that’s the fun side of it, the exciting bit is rolling up your sleeves, pitting yourself against some of the best players not just in Ireland, but in Europe. “We know that from an Irish point of view, you take the likes of Pete [O’Mahony], CJ [Stander] and Conor [Murray], put them into any team together, as they were in the Lions, and they make that team strong. Munster is an unbelievably strong team and a real threat so we’re going to have to be really good under the contestable high ball, we’re going to have to be good at the breakdown and solid in defence because they’re going to come at us. Ultimately, it’s a great challenge and that’s where you want to be as a professional player, you want to know that you have to raise your game because if you don’t you won’t win.” Having recently racked up a double century of Ulster caps, Rory Best is still stirred by the sight of old rivals Munster coming north to Kingspan Stadium but he remains convinced the Ulstermen can give fans what they want. “Ultimately, as Captain of this team you want to see the team put in a good performance that justifies

who they are and how hard they’ve worked. The big thing for us is that the fans see a reflection of who we are and how hard we’re working. “I know there’s been frustration among fans with our recent performances and they don’t feel that they always see the dedication and passion we have for the game and the jersey. There are things that we are working on, things that we can see coming through in the game and it’s not always perfect but that’s professional sport – the highs are so high and the lows are so low but we feel that there are enough positives to take away from the season so far.” Best remains resilient in the face of criticism by focusing on the importance of the unit and the continual improvements the squad are making. “You’ve got to realise that all that’s important is what we’re doing and how hard we’re working as a unit. We brought in three new coaches and that has been really enjoyable working with them. There have been a lot of new things we’ve tried but ultimately, you’re trying to break the habit of not quite getting across the line at the final hurdle which dates back 5 or 6 years and that culture change isn’t going to happen with the click of the fingers. We’ve got a little stability with the squad and we’ll be together now until the Six Nations, so I think we are in a really strong place. There are a lot of pleasing aspects to our play so I feel that we are in a really good position, we just need to break a couple of trends and as soon as we do that people will forget the frustrating bits at the start of the season and we’ll get a bit of a run again.”

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