Ulster Rugby vs Newport Gwent Dragons

Chief Executive’s

Welcome back to Round 7 of the Guinness PRO12 after two weeks of European Cup rugby ! We are delighted that our 12 clubs have done so well to date in the new European competitions. There is a long way still to go but congratulations to our teams on 8 wins in the European Rugby Champions Cup, one more win than the Top14 sides and three more than the Aviva Premiership ! All our 5 clubs have won in the European Rugby Challenge Cup too and have seven wins out of ten. Zebre’s first ever win in Europe deserves a special acknowledgement. Well done to all ! The Scarlets had an excellent victory over Leicester Tigers in an emotional day at Parc y Scarlets last Saturday. The Rugby Community is still coming to terms with the recent loss of former Scarlets and Regional Rugby Chief Executive Stuart Gallacher and his memorial service last Wednesday at Parc y Scarlets was a fitting tribute to a great servant of rugby football on and off the pitch. He diligently served for many years on the Board of ERC and on the Celtic League where I was privileged to have worked with him during a big change in professional rugby. Stuart also worked on the LV=Cup and on the board of the WRU. He will be sadly missed by so many friends and his wonderful family. Rest In Peace Stuart. We have many players playing for their countries in the forthcoming Autumn Internationals and we wish them and their international teams every success against their southern hemisphere opponents. This weekend sees some great match ups as all 12 teams try to move up the table and push for the Play Offs and European places - with the seasonal ‘spooky’ atmosphere an added bonus for supporters ! The 154 tries scored and the 4.28 average tries per match to date is excellent for our increased audiences to see ! The Guinness PRO12 is showing it can compete very favourably in Europe so we thank you for your continued support of your club ! We wish the players, coaches and match officials all the best for what should be a memorable and entertaining match here this evening ! Enjoy !

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