Ulster Rugby v Ospreys

SAM CARTER

New Ulster lock Sam Carter is raring to go for his first competitive outing in white and red – but perhaps only the most eagle-eyed rugby follower will be aware that this evening’s game will be the Australian’s third appearance at Kingspan Stadium. AUSSIELOCK ISREADY FORNEWCHALLENGE

had already been done and I just popped up!” Modesty aside, Carter’s noteworthy debut will do his chances of first-team selection no harm whatsoever in a strong second row panel where he will be competing for game- time with the likes of Ireland internationals Iain Henderson and Kieran Treadwell, and the O’Connor brothers, Alan and the newly- recruited David. “If I can do that for the next 25 games I’ll be very lucky, but I’m just focusing on doing my job and doing my best for the team,” he insists. Carter comes to Ulster after eight seasons in Super Rugby with the Brumbies, where he amassed 122 caps and was named club co-captain in 2017 alongside former Ulster loanee Christian Leali’ifano. Both Leali’ifano and another Brumbies star with an Ulster connection – Henry Speight, who enjoyed a successful loan spell at Kingspan Stadium in the first half of the 2018/19 season – were instrumental in encouraging Carter to take up the new challenge overseas. While the New South Wales native has already noted significant differences between Northern and Southern Hemisphere rugby, he is confident that rugby at Ulster will suit his style of play.

Carter made an explosive debut for the Province three weeks ago in the 50-19 pre- season defeat of Glasgow Warriors, coming on as a half-time replacement and marking an impressive performance with a well- worked try off a pass from Matty Rea. However, the 16-times-capped Wallaby first ran out on the Kingspan Stadium turf back in November 2016, representing the Barbarians against Fiji alongside the likes of All Blacks Luke Whitelock and Andy Ellis, fellow Ulster new recruit Matt Faddes, and former fan favourites Tommy Bowe and Ruan Pienaar. The 30-year-old thoroughly enjoyed his first appearance in Ulster colours, but is markedly modest in the assessment of his performance. “I played here once before back in 2016,” he begins, “but to get back out here on a really nice day was great. In the second half we played a good bit of footy, and it was great to play in front of the Ulster crowd for the first time.” “I got a bit lucky in the second half, I was in the right place at the right time. All the work

14

ulsterrugby.com