Ulster Rugby vs Treviso

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1 ULSTERRUGBY
PRESIDENT’S
WELCOME
IRFU
ULSTER BRANCH
Kingspan Stadium,
85 Ravenhill Park,
Belfast, BT6 0DG
T // +44 (0)28 9049 3222
ulsterrugby.com
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
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)
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here to
Kingspan Stadium for this Guinness PRO12 match
against Benetton Treviso.