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ROB HERRING
NAMED AS ULSTER
CAPTAIN DURING WORLD CUP
Ulster hooker, Rob Herring, has been named as the province’s
captain during the World Cup period.
The 25 year-old, who has won 70 caps for Ulster,
will deputise for club captain, Rory Best, who will
be away with Ireland.
Herring has been at Ulster since the summer
of 2012. He made his debut against Ospreys in
September of that year and in his three seasons
at the province has become a senior player within
the squad.
His excellent form for Ulster saw him called up
to the international side and he won his first
international cap for Ireland in June 2014, coming
off the bench in a tour match against Argentina.
Confirming the appointment, Ulster Head Coach,
Neil Doak, said: ‘Rob is a quality player who has
grown in stature over the past three seasons. His
work on the pitch is second to none. He gives
everything for Ulster and he will bring that passion
and excitement to the captaincy role.”
Rob Herring said: “It was a bit of surprise to
me. When Neil Doak told me I was in a bit of
shock! It is a massive honour to captain Ulster.
It’s a privilege to lead the guys out for a game,
especially at Kingspan Stadium. I know that the
role is only temporary but I will enjoy the increased
responsibility.
“There are lots of players in our team who have
leadership qualities and that makes being captain
easier. I am just massively focused on playing
well for Ulster, leading by example and getting the
season off to a successful start.”
Herring missed out on World Cup selection. He
is using the disappointment of that to spur him
and Ulster on in the coming weeks: “Missing
out on the World Cup was a bit of a blow to
me. It hasn’t worked out for me this time,
but if you want to achieve national honours,
you have to be playing well for your
province and the province needs to be
doing well. I am just massively focused
on playing well for Ulster and hopefully
getting a few good results and getting
some momentum for the team.”
Last season Ulster narrowly missed
out on a home play-off. With every
point mattering between now and May, Herring is
determined to get the PRO12 campaign off to a
good start, beginning with tonight’s game against
Ospreys:
“Kingspan Stadium has been a fortress for us over
the past few years. We want to give our fans the
best possible performance. It’s a massive game
for us and we just want to get the win and get the
league off to the best possible start.
“Over the summer it has been good to see some
of the Academy boys coming in and some of the
development lads stepping up. We have a real
squad mentality now and we know that we can
count on them when we need them. To win the
league, games like these
count. We don’t want
to be slipping up
and missing out
on a PRO12 play
off like we did last
season. It’s vitally
important we learn
from that and that
starts against
Ospreys.”
ROB HERRING