Ulster Rugby v Leinster

QUESTION TIME WITH RORY BEST

Ulster’s captain, Rory Best, returned to action last weekend against formidable opponents La Rochelle. Here he shares his thoughts on that French battle, his return to form and his feelings on joining the 200 club.

If ever there was a game where you needed to find out where you were, La Rochelle certainly presented that on Saturday – how did you find it? There were large parts of the La Rochelle game that I think we can be really happy with. We’re going to have to take those bits and obviously cement them in and be better this week. But we’re also going to have to be better in other areas too. It seems a very long time since I last played so I was just delighted to get back on the pitch. And it was good - the leg came through well and I’ve done a bit more running today so hopefully it’s all good. It was obviously a big impact and a really good test for us. By and large, we stood up pretty well to a big front row and a big front five. La Rochelle were a tough ask in terms of the sheer size of them but Leinster is an equally tough ask as they are a very good rugby team. A six day turnover is tough but facing Leinster on home soil where you have the full backing of the infamous Kingspan crowd may not the worst deal in the world? You have to be up for it. We always talk about these Inter-pros and how big they are, how special they are. Probably at the minute there is none bigger than Leinster because they have been the top province over the last 6 or 7 years now. It’s going to be a big challenge for us but it gets you going. We’ve been well looked after the early part of this week but a lot of it comes down to mindset – we need to make sure that we get our heads in the game to make sure that we hit the ground running tonight. What is so special about Leinster? Leinster are a really tough opposition, you look at their squad and whatever 15 they put out they’re star studded full of internationals. More important for Irish rugby, they’re full of Irish internationals which is probably why it makes these Inter-

provincial derbies so important because you’re playing against people potentially in your position or people who want your position and it always adds a little bit of edge. I would say the provincial set-up is the special thing about Irish rugby, because it means so much more to play for your province. Leinster have a conveyor belt of players coming through there and I think that they have some fairly good half backs and they have a very good back-row no matter which three they pick. And I think if you can get that sort of core it makes you a very good team, as you see with them. Having played and trained with some of Leinster’s front rows, what do you think they will bring to the scrum? Leinster have a good scrum but the difference, from La Rochelle, is that their props play a lot more around the field. If you look at the work that Jack (McGrath) and Tadhg (Furlong) especially get through. I think Tadhg has really re-invented what Irish rugby supporters can expect from a Tighthead Prop. It’s no longer push as hard as you can in the scrum and then hide around the place and when the ball comes your way do whatever you can with it. He has shown that regardless of your size if you work hard and you’re good on your feet you can be one of the best defenders on the team, you can be one of the best carriers on the team. Having seen him come in and be a bit of a surprise at the World Cup in 2015, and seen the way he’s worked and developed and come on as a rugby player is I think from an Irish point of view is really great to see; that that sort of hard work has been rewarded with his performances on the pitch We’ve seen you cheering the boys on from the side lines in the first few PRO14 matches, what do you think of the Ulster performance so far? I think when you look at the first part of this season and you take that first PRO14 run, 5 out of 6 wins is very good. Obviously, we didn’t

RORY BEST JOINS 200 CLUB

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