Ulster Rugby v Ospreys

JONNY It has felt like something of a long off-season break this year with the World Cup being in play, but at the same time, the Guinness PRO14 Championship kick-off has come upon us pretty quickly. PETRIE CEOUPDATE

It’s great to get everyone back to competitive rugby, and I’m looking forward to seeing the team perform in front of our home crowd here at Kingspan Stadium. The summer has been a very useful period for me; providing a natural break to be able to take stock after a very busy first season at the helm here at the club. I have hugely enjoyed my time so far and continue to feel very proud at having this opportunity, but at the same time, it is also important to recognise the work that we still have to do across all aspects of the sport in the Province. Under the guidance of Dan, the professional team made huge strides last year and delivered perhaps beyond expectations going into the campaign – making the semi-finals of the PRO14 and coming within a whisker of getting to the same stage in Europe was a great achievement with a new coaching team and a young playing group. Having done that though, we rightly have to set the benchmark higher now, and keep ourselves moving forward; every other team will have improved and we need to keep getting better at a quicker rate.

8

ulsterrugby.com