Ulster Rugby v Leicester Tigers

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME On behalf of Ulster Rugby, it is a pleasure to welcome you all to Kingspan Stadium for this evening’s Heineken Champions Cup match against Leicester Tigers. This is our first game in Europe this season having qualified for the premier competition following our Playoff win last season.

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH 2018/19 OFFICERS Stephen Elliott President Gary Leslie Senior Vice President Philip Gregg Junior Vice President Denis Gardiner Honorary Secretary Michael Boyd Honorary Treasurer Greg Irwin Competitions Secretary EXECUTIVE TEAM David Dobbin Interim Chief Executive Audrey Robinson Head of Finance & Operations Fiona Hampton Head of Sales & Marketing Bryn Cunningham Operations Director Chris Webster Head of Rugby Development

A particularly warm welcome goes to Chief Executive, Simon Cohen and his guests, together with all the Tigers supporters who have made their way to Kingspan Stadium this evening. They always add colour to the crowd wherever they travel and we hope they enjoy their visit. We have fond memories of our meetings with Leicester in Belfast, particularly the first time we encountered them in the Heineken Cup in 2003, which happened to be the first match we ever staged on a Sunday. The result on that occasion surprised everyone. It is unfortunate that we must host the game on a Saturday afternoon when there is a full programme of AIL and domestic fixtures but we are, as always, grateful for the support of our loyal followers which I know means so much to the players. With your help we hope to get this years’ campaign off to a winning start! Last week, we had hoped to bounce back from the defeat in Munster but things did not go to plan. However, we battled to the end and managed to add a bonus point to our tally. It was great to see skipper, Rory Best back from injury together with Jacob Stockdale and for Iain Henderson to play for 80 minutes.

The A team continued their winning run last Friday with victory over the Dragons. Best wishes to them as they complete their Celtic Cup fixtures away to Connacht on Sunday. The experience gained in these matches will benefit those players as they turn out for their clubs in future weeks or even progress to the senior side. Last weekend saw matches in all divisions of the AIL with mixed results for the Ulster teams. QUB, Malone, Bangor and Omagh flew the flag for the province and those teams who suffered defeat last week will be hoping for better fortune today. Good luck to them and to all men, women, boys and girls participating in rugby this weekend. For many of us the Heineken Cup was always “The Heineken” and it is great to see the name officially restored. We are grateful to Heineken for their sponsorship and I’m sure there will be a few pints consumed this evening! I hope that everyone enjoys the match and the Kingspan Stadium experience and remember to “Stand Up For The Ulstermen!” Stephen Elliott President, IRFU Ulster Branch

Kingspan Stadium, 134 Mount Merrion Avenue Belfast, BT6 0FT T +44 (0)28 9049 3222 ulsterrugby.com

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