Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

OFFICERS Bobby Stewart // President John McKibbin // Senior Vice President Graffin Parke // Junior Vice President John McKibbin // Honorary Secretary Michael Boyd // Honorary Treasurer Denis Gardiner // Competitions Secretary EXECUTIVE TEAM Shane Logan // Chief Executive Chris Webster // Domestic Rugby Manager Audrey Robinson // Financial Controller Fiona Hampton // Head of Sales & Marketing

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Kingspan Stadium this evening for this Guinness PRO12 match against Cardiff Blues.

I would particularly like to welcome the officials, players and supporters who have made the trip from Wales and I hope that you enjoy your time in Belfast. With the World Cup taking place this is just the fifth round of the PRO12, but more importantly it is just the second of 16 consecutive games for both teams. This will mean that the coaches will have to carefully manage the player’s game time to ensure that they get sufficient time to recover. Cardiff has got off to a shaky start with only one win to date and will be intent on bettering their position of eighth in the PRO12 this evening. Ulster have also got off to a shaky start and will want to capitalise on the reputation of ‘Fortress Kingspan’. I had hoped that I would be congratulating Ireland on reaching the semi-final of the World Cup but unfortunately that was not to be. When you look at the results of the quarter-finals I think the last pool game between France took too much out of both sides as they both looked tired in their matches. With the World Cup over for Ireland we can look forward to our Ulster

representatives returning to Kingspan Stadium. Les Kiss will be taking up his appointment as Director of Rugby in November and I welcome him and his family to Belfast and I hope that they enjoy their time here. This week sees the first round of the All Ireland Junior Cup and I wish Ulster’s representatives Bangor, Clogher Valley, Dromore and Instonians good luck and I hope to see their names in the quarter-final draw. Tonight is a special night for our charity of the year, Alzheimer’s Society. Fans have been asked to wear funky hats and bucket collectors will be around the stadium. Please donate as much as you can to this fantastic cause and help support their ‘Don’t keep it under your hat’ campaign. I hope that you all enjoy the game tonight and give Cardiff Blues a great Ulster reception this evening. Good luck to Ulster and remember, STAND UP FOR THE ULSTERMEN!! Bobby Stewart // President IRFU (Ulster Branch)

Kingspan Stadium, 85 Ravenhill Park, Belfast, BT6 0DG T // +44 (0)28 9049 3222 ulsterrugby.com

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