Ulster Rugby vs Llanelli Scarlets

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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
officials, players and supporters who
have made the trip from West Wales
for their second visit of the season. You
are all very welcome in Belfast.
The importance of tonight’s game in
terms of Ulster’s play-off hopes cannot
be underestimated. The province
currently sits in second place in the
Guinness PRO12, level on points with
third placed Munster and four points
behind leaders, Glasgow Warriors.
Last weekend, the province recorded
a hard fought 20 points to 17 win over
Edinburgh at Murrayfield. Down to
13 men for the last ten minutes of the
match, Ulster showed remarkable
defensive qualities and resolve to hold
the home team out in the final stages.
Those four points could prove crucial in
the coming weeks.
Scarlets arrive at Kingspan Stadium
after a draw against Munster. Like our
own PRO12 fixture at Parc Y Scarlets at
the start of the season, Scarlets were in
the lead but the visitors came back to
level the match. Wayne Pivac has the
Welsh region extremely well drilled and
they come to Kingspan Stadium aiming
to overtake Connacht and claim sixth
position in the PRO12.
Tonight we welcome Dan Tuohy back
to the side. Our injury list has been well
documented in recent months. It is
great to see players like Dan returning
to fitness at such a crucial time of the
season. He always makes a significant
difference to any side that he plays
in and no doubt Joe Schmidt will be
monitoring his progress very closely.
On Sunday Ireland take on England
at the Aviva Stadium. They will be
aiming to make it three wins in a row
in this seasons RBS 6 Nations. Good
luck to the Ireland management team
and their players, especially the Ulster
representatives in the squad – Rory
Best, Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne,
Iain Henderson and Robbie Diack.
It is a seismic game in this season’s
championship. If Ireland were to win it
then they will be well placed to go on
and win a second successive title.
Last weekend we saw some
excellent rugby in the Danske Bank
Ulster Schools’ Cup quarter-finals.
Congratulations to Coleraine Inst,
Belfast Inst, Wallace HS and Methodist
College Belfast for reaching the semi-
finals. The games will be played on the
3rd and 5th March here at Kingspan
Stadium and I know that the boys
would appreciate all support.
Thank you for being part of another
sell-out crowd this evening and I would
encourage you to get behind your team
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 Scarlets.