Ulster Rugby vs Zebra

Club captain, Iain Henderson is keen for another strong display from Ulster as they prepare for the second round of the Heineken Champions Cup against ASM Clermont Auvergne tonight, following their gutsy win against Bath last weekend. IAIN HENDERSON

In assessing the opposition, the skipper believes the French giants will be an enormous but not insurmountable test for the Ulster men. “I think Clermont are a team who like to attack; there are definitely opportunities to attack them as well. Some of their results they wouldn’t be too happy with in the Top 14, but you see the tries they manufacture, they’re an extremely dangerous team if anyone tries to play loose rugby against them. We’ve just got to make sure our defence is watertight.” At the age of 27, this is Henderson’s first season as club captain – a role which he attributes his teammates to making a lot easier for him. “This group of players is so good and there are so many leaders scattered throughout the squad, so the captaincy job is a lot easier than it would be if we didn’t have them. They’ll definitely be stepping up, hoping to impress the crowd and go after Clermont.” The large contingent of Ulster fans in Bath last weekend has filled the team with confidence ahead of what is their toughest challenge yet this season, and Henderson’s first home game since returning from the World Cup. “I’m massively excited and the fans in Bath on Saturday were unbelievable; I think there were a couple of thousand who travelled over. It gives us a lot of energy coming into this weekend if that’s what it’s like with a couple of thousand people, what’s a home game going to be like? I’m really looking forward to this.”

Despite having less of the territory and possession, Ulster’s defence against the hosts was outstanding, and ultimately kept them in the game with the visitors taking the chances that came their way. Henderson put their recent impressive defensive efforts down to the work by Defence Coach, Jared Payne. “Jared has been doing a great job with us,” he said. “He’s getting everyone onto the same page. When you’re defending well together, it feels like everyone knows what to do and it feels like everyone falls into place rather than being a massive effort. The technical challenge is something we’re doing really well in training and it’s been showing on the pitch.” After such a physical encounter on Saturday, the second row is aware of the difficulty of backing up a performance in a short turnaround time. “There’s a lot of pressure in the pool stages in this tournament. First and foremost, you need to get your home wins; those are the games you have to win to do well in the competition. “We’ve done the more difficult task first by winning away and now we have to back it up. Clermont have got a pretty exceptional team starting to find form coming to us and we’ve got to be the best version of ourselves to counter what they’re going to bring us.”

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