Ulster Rugby v Cheetahs

LOUIS LUDIK

We spoke to Ulster utility back Loius Ludik about pre-season, getting back on the playing field and introduction of South African teams to the PRO14.

You must have been delighted to get the game time under your belt in the pre season? Absolutely. Especially after last season, there was a couple of mouths I couldn’t play which was tough so it’s great to be on the field again. Even though it didn’t go the way we wanted it to go it was good fun being out there. How do you feel the pre season went for you in particular? I think, for me, pre season went well; we all trained very hard. Pre season is always tough but it’s good to get the miles in. Our conditioning team are brilliant; they know exactly what they are doing. We could feel it; even though the results didn’t go our way all the guys felt fit during those pre season games so we are ready to take on the new season and really looking forward to it. We didn’t get the pre-season result here at Kingspan Stadium but tonight’s first game of the competition offers an opportunity to put that right? The Wasps game was very tough but it was great to see the enthusiasm of our younger players. The guys are really looking forward to tonight. I’ve played against the Cheetahs quite a few times in South Africa so know what they’re all about. They’ve got some great players over there. It’s a very exciting, young team, so I think it will be tough on defence as they like to run all over the park and off load and they have a lot of speed. They’re not the biggest guys but they have extreme pace and it’s going to be tough to catch them but we’re looking forward to it and we know what to expect so it’s going to be fun. It’s an exciting time for everyone with the revamp of the PRO14 as it’s know known. As a South African, is it as exciting for you and are you intrigued to see what it will bring? Yeah absolutely. There was a lot of speculation beforehand and we were just hoping it would come through. South Africans are very excited I think it’s especially great for both the competition and for the supporters, as it offers something new and fresh. it’s always great

seeing new teams, new talent, new guys and new styles of play, especially from the Southern Hemisphere. It’s going to interesting for them as well, especially in winter time seeing how they adapt, it’s going to be a bit wetter. But for me, playing against South African teams again is very exciting and the thought of maybe touring back to South Africa again to play on the old fields and see my family would be great.

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