6
ULSTER
RUGBY
ROB HERRING
SCARE TACTICS
ROB HERRING
“Monday was a bit bleak to be honest,”
explains Rob. “In our meeting Neil Doak
sat us all down and said we need to put
that game behind us and look forward to
this weekend and putting in a massive
performance for the home crowd in the
PRO12.”
Having recorded victories over Cardiff,
Edinburgh and Glasgow in recent weeks,
the opening day tie with Scarlets and a
defeat away to Zebre leaves Ulster third in
the Guinness PRO12 table.
“Another PRO12 victory is essential,” says
Herring. “This weekend is really important
to keep ourselves in the top four, pushing
for the first or second spot. Dragons are a
good side but we are determined to give
it everything. It’s a massive game for the
guys who have just missed out on the Irish
squad and also for the fringe players. We
really need to prove ourselves with a big
performance this weekend.”
The 24 year old won his first cap for
Ireland when he came on as a substitute
against Argentina in June this year, but
missed out on a call up to the squad for
the Autumn Internationals.
“I was disappointed when I got the call
from Joe (Schmidt) but I was almost
expecting it this time around. I haven’t had
the same amount of game time as last
year and I haven’t been able to show the
same run of good form. Over the next few
months I need to kick on and get more
game time, put in good performances and
put my hand up for the Six Nations. With
Rory away this is a great opportunity to
show that I can perform and I have got to
maximise my chance.”
The forward line up has changed
dramatically from last season with Tom
Court and John Afoa moving on to
pastures new, however despite taking a
while to get used to each other, Herring
claims the scrum has now found its
groove and the guys are working hard to
improve every week…
“Wiehahn (Herbst) has been great in the
front row, he has come in and is doing
an awesome job. He is solid as a rock
and has been an anchor in the tight of
the scrum. Him and Franco (van der
Merwe) both – they have played every
game so far, have so much experience
and are consistently putting in good
performances. They both love to scrum so
when it comes to tactics, having Wiehahn
on one side and Franco behind you, you
know they are going to give it their all to
go forward.”
Ninth placed Dragons will be looking to
upset Ulster’s unbeaten home run in the
PRO12 this season, but Neil Doak’s side
have been doing their homework and
know what to expect from the Welsh side.
“Dragons have a big physical forward
pack,” claims Herring. “So we have been
looking at them over the past few days.
They get some good go-forward ball from
their mauls and drives. And as a forward
unit, we have been focusing on stopping
their pack to get our backs some good
ball.
“This season we have made a solid effort
to improve work in the maul, Allen Clarke
reviewed the last couple of years and our
maul hasn’t been where we need it to be,
so we set ourselves the goal of improving
it to result in tries, penalties or creating a
good platform for the backs. It is probably
the most improved aspect of our game
compared to last year but we have a way
to go and will keep working. This game
against the Dragons will give us the
opportunity to put that work into practice –
when it really counts.”
Ulster’s Halloween fixture against Dragons is a must-win
for the side who succumbed to the French force of Toulon
just seven days ago.
