Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

ROGER WILSON ON EDINBURGH: It was a disappointing away trip, we defended quite well for most of the game. We knew it was going to be a physical game as it always is over there, but looking back over the video analysis, we came out second best in terms of physicality. Teams are going to up their game on their home turf so we have to make sure we are better. We created plenty of opportunities but similar to the Scarlets game we just turned over too much ball and we really weren’t clinical enough. ON TRAINING THIS WEEK: Looking after the ball is our main priority, our handling was poor at times and there were a few unforced errors. It came as a bit of a shock to us how physical Edinburgh were in defence so we will put pressure on ourselves to hold onto the ball when there is a physical defence coming at us and a little bit on set piece also. Our performance obviously isn’t where we want it to be. ON LOOSING KEY PLAYERS TOWORLD CUP DUTY The team is affected when you are missing your international players, they are the ones with the most experience especially someone like Rory who has been a really good leader for us for a number of years. But in saying that we should have enough players with experience here to take the reins when they are away. As the game went on last weekend, there were maybe some more inexperienced players coming on off the bench but that isn’t an excuse. I think any team if you take away their four or five big leaders on international duty they will struggle a little bit but we should have enough experience in the side to deal with that. ON GETTING THEM BACK Ireland’s defeat was disappointing but it’s a double edged sword - its good for Ulster because we get those players back a little bit earlier but disappointing for the guys who have worked so hard over the past few months, I am sure the guys will

get some time off to recuperate and the guys that haven’t played an awful lot will be keen to get back into an Ulster jersey as soon as possible. The guys who have been away whether its World Cup, Autumn Internationals or Six Nation, they always tend to come back enthusiastic, which provides a lift for the team as a whole. ON CARDIFF BLUES We are always confident at home, no matter who we play, we have a good record against Cardiff so hopefully we will put last weekends disappointment behind us. We spoke about our inconsistencies during the week, we seem to get the performances right at home and then away from home the standard drops slightly. But we don’t want to worry about that this week, we will put our heads down and hopefully put in a good performance for the home crowd on Friday night. ON ULSTER’S SUCCESSFUL RUN AT HOME Teams always raise their game at home, whether that is down to home comforts, home crowd or regular routine, I don’t know. Referees also tend to favour the home team slightly as well so that could play a part. But those are small things and we are a team that has finished in the top four for the last number of years, we want to be the best in the league so those things really should not decide games. It’s a tough one to answer, but generally I just think teams up their game at home and therefore whenever we travel – we have to perform even better than we would at Kingspan Stadium. ON LES KISS JOINING ULSTER RUGBY Les has a great track record as a coach, he has experienced the highest level of rugby so has an added insight into what it takes to perform on an international stage. Preparation, mind set and discipline he will have a deep knowledge of. But we are very happy with our coaching set up at the minute so I think Les will really come in to enhance what is in place at the minute and wont make any drastic changes.

ROGER WILSON

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