Ulster Rugby vs Treviso

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

OFFICERS John Kinnear // President Bobby Stewart // Senior Vice President John McKibbin // 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 here to Kingspan Stadium for this Guinness PRO12 match against Benetton Treviso.

I would particularly like to welcome the committee members, players and supporters from Italy. You are all very welcome in Belfast. Our previous encounter against Treviso last month was a closely fought encounter. Ulster took a commanding lead into the break but the home side came back strongly in the second period and we did well to hold on to get the victory. That match showed how competitive our league is and Ulster will need to produce all of the battling qualities that they displayed in Northern Italy if they are to get the victory here tonight. It is just under three weeks since Ulster were last in action. The bonus point victory over Leicester Tiger was a strong finish to a disappointing European campaign. Much has been made of the injuries that we have suffered this season. That game showed that with players like Iain Henderson back in the starting XV we are more than a force to be reckoned with. That is exciting as it has been announced that the Guinness PRO12 Final will be staged at Kingspan Stadium this season. Huge credit must go to the team at Ulster Rugby who submitted a successful bid to host the game. Regardless of who is in it the match, the game will be a wonderful spectacle. However, our players now have a huge incentive for the rest of

the season as they know that they could play in a Guinness PRO12 final at home. On the international front the Ireland side started their defence of the RBS 6 Nations last weekend with a good win in Italy. Congratulations to Rory Best, Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne and Iain Henderson on the victory. Good luck to Joe Schmidt and all his players against France at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow. A win over ‘Les Bleus’ would be fantastic and would put Ireland in a very strong position going into the rest of the Championship. Finally, the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup has thrown up some exciting quarter-final fixtures. RBAI will play Royal School Armagh, Coleraine Inst. take on Omagh Academy, Ballyclare HS host Wallace HS, while arguably the tie of the round sees Methodist College travel across Belfast to take on Campbell College. If you are free next Saturday I would encourage you to attend one of these schools games and to witness the passion and pride that these talented young players have in representing their schools. Good luck to everyone involved. As always thank you for you support and Stand up for the Ulstermen. Yours in Rugby John Kinnear // President IRFU (Ulster Branch)

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

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