Ulster Rugby - SPECIAL EDITION - Programme: European Challenge Cup-Semi

ULSTER
Challenge Cup
Semi-Final Preview
LEICESTER TIGERS v
Fri 30 Apr 2021, 8pm
Mattioli Woods
Welford Road
SPECIAL
DITION

Issue
In this
4
We know we have to
be big on our set piece
and kick-chase.
They have big ballcarriers
too, so we
will need to nullify
those threats.
Player Interview: Billy Burns 4
Teams 6
The Journey So Far 8
Leicester Tigers - Ones To Watch 10
Interview: Dan McFarland 12
Player Interview: Will Addison 14
14
8
Iain Henderson
12
10
3

Billy Burns
Fly Half
13/06/1994
185cm
86kg
47
6
Billy Burns has been back with the Ulster
squad for the last few weeks since returning
from the Ireland camp, and all eyes are set
on the Challenge Cup Semi-Final versus
Leicester on Friday.
First of all Billy, how has it been since returning
to the Ulster squad from international duties?
I’ve loved it! It’s been nice coming back into
a squad that’s been going well. Over that
period, I’ve been watching the boys and
it’s always exciting to come back. I’ve been
fortunate to have come back to play in big
games in the Challenge Cup and the Inter-Pro
against Connacht. It’s been great.
Do you find it takes time to re-integrate with
the squad after being away for a few weeks?
A little bit, and probably more so this year
given the impact of COVID-19 protocols and
how we train and operate now. Even on days
off from Ireland, I couldn’t come in and show
my face at Ulster. It took me a little while but
once you get back into the flow of things, it all
comes back to you pretty quickly.
How is the mood in the squad ahead of the
Leicester game this week?
It’s been good; obviously there’s huge
disappointment after last weekend not
getting the result we wanted to against
Connacht. We reviewed that game on
Sunday and took learnings from that. The
focus has switched to Leicester now; it’s a big
European game and an opportunity to get
ourselves to a final. We know it’s going to be a
huge challenge so there’s a lot of excitement
around the place and a real intensity in
training. Everyone is really focused on Friday
night and we’re looking forward to it.
You have played Leicester quite a few times
with Gloucester, can you tell us what you
make of them and what threats they bring?
I’ve played Leicester a number of times
although their squad has changed from when
I last played them. In terms of threats, they’ve
got them all over the park. They turned a
corner in the last year or so and have gone
back to their old identity, which is a really
strong set piece, very physical. They’ve got
the quality at the back to pull you apart. You
look at their half-back partnership – Ben
Youngs and George Ford – if they get good
go-forward ball, you don’t get much better
than them. There are threats everywhere,
but we see it as an exciting challenge, and
we feel we have a good plan to disrupt that.
It’s an exciting prospect for us.
You mentioned George Ford - what do you
know about his style of play and what will
Ulster need to do to contain him?
He’s world-class. I’ve watched a lot of his
games. He puts people into space, so we need
to deny him that front-foot ball. If your pack
isn’t on top, it’s hard to get into the game.
That’s one area we’ll look to take away from
him. Off the back of that, it’s not too different
from any other week. We’ll have to defend
well and put pressure on his decision-making.
He’s got an unbelievable kicking game so our
back field will have to be sharp as well.
Do your preparations differ for away games
compared to home games?
It’s similar enough. There are a lot of guys
who have played at Welford Road and are
familiar with the surroundings, as strange as
that might sound it helps. You know what
you’re going into and how tough it will be.
In terms of preparation, whether it’s home
or away, it doesn’t change too much.
How important would it be for this squad to
claim silverware this season?
It would be huge. We’ve not shied away
from the fact that we want to be competing
for trophies year in, year out and this is an
opportunity for us to do that. When you go
a long time without winning a trophy, getting
that first one is potentially the hardest one
and that can give you a lot of confidence off
the back of that. While we’re hoping to lift
silverware - and I know it sounds clichéd - but
we aren’t looking too much further ahead
than Leicester. We know it’s going to be a
tough game and if we do want to get to the
final and a shot at silverware, we’ll have to play
as well as we have all season.
UlsterRugby.com 5

C
1 Genge 2 Youngs 3 Cole
1 O’Sullivan 2 Herring 3 Moore
C
4 Wells 5 Green
4 O’Connor
5 Henderson
6 Martin
8 Wiese
7 Liebenberg
6 Rea
8 Timoney
7 Murphy
9 Wigglesworth
9 Cooney
11 Nadolo
10 Ford
11 McIlroy
10 Burns
12 Scott
12 McCloskey
REPLACEMENTS
REPLACEMENTS
16 C Clare
17 L de Bruin
18 J Heyes
13 Moroni
16 J Andrew
17 A Warwick
18 T O’Toole
13 Hume
19 T Lavanini
20 C Brink
21 B Youngs
15 Steward
14 Porter
19 K Treadwell
20 S Reidy
21 A Mathewson
15 Stockdale
14 Baloucoune
22 Z Henry
23 K Murimurivalu
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal, Alex Ruiz (both Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
22 M Lowry
23 W Addison
UlsterRugby.com
7

The Story So Far - From 16 Down To 4
AWAY
W 21-57
Sun 4 Apr
AWAY
W 27-35
Sat 10 Apr
AWAY
SEMI-FINAL
Fri 30 Apr, 8pm
TBC
FINAL
w/o 21/22 May
It was domination from start to
finish from Ulster who proved
much too strong for a depleted
Harlequins outfit.
Stuart McCloskey ran in the first
of eight tries for the visitors.
The next two scores were both
from powerful driving mauls, with
Rob Herring and then Sean Reidy
crossing the whitewash. Setting
the tone for the evening.
Ulster fought back from eight
points behind to eventually defeat
Northampton Saints in a gripping
quarter-final at Franklin’s Gardens.
The visitors called upon their star
men in scrum-half John Cooney
and wing Jacob Stockdale who
both crossed the whitewash in the
final 20 minutes to secure a spot in
the last four of the Challenge Cup.
A first European Rugby Challenge
Cup final will be at stake for both
Leicester Tigers and Ulster when
they clash in the semi-final on Friday.
Though both sides have lifted
the European Cup, neither have
reached the final of the Challenge
Cup and will be keen to add a
new piece of silverware to their
respective collections.
The exact time and date of the
final is still to be confirmed.
Bath Rugby will host Montpellier
in the second semi-final on
Saturday night.
Previous winners include:
2019/20: Bristol Bears
2018/19: ASM Clermont Auvergne
2017/18: Cardiff Blues
2016/17: Stade Francais Paris
Tries:
Stuart McCloskey
Rob Herring (2)
Sean Reidy (2)
Mike Lowry
Billy Burns
Alby Mathewson
Cons:
John Cooney (5)
Ian Madigan (2)
Pen:
John Cooney
Tries:
Penalty Try
Rob Herring
Marty Moore
John Cooney
Jacob Stockdale
Cons:
John Cooney (5)
UlsterRugby.com
9

Ones To Watch
Captain Tom Youngs starts
alongside Ellis Genge and Dan
Cole in the front row, with Harry
Wells and Calum Green making
up an unchanged Tigers tight-five
from last weekend’s Gallagher
Premiership game against
Northampton Saints.
Richard Wigglesworth, who missed
last weekend’s derby, comes into
the Tigers side at scrum-half to
partner Engish International flyhalf,
George Ford (pictured right).
South African, Jasper Wiese has
beaten the most defenders so far
this season in the Challenge Cup,
with 18. The No.8 has impressed
with his ball carrying, making both
the hard yards and finding space,
making 164 metres from 36 carries.
Scottish International Matt Scott,
slots into the Centre. Having made
14 appearcances already this
season, the expericed centre will
be well-known within the Ulster
squad, after his eight seasons at
Edinburgh Rugby. Scott is joined
by Matías Moroni in the midfield.
Fijian back three, Kini Murimurivalu
could be a threat coming off the
bench. Ranking second in the
Challenge Cup for metres made,
with 214m in three games. He has
also proven to be illusive, beating 11
defenders in the tournament.
UlsterRugby.com
11

Dan McFarland
This is our
Semi-Final and
there’s a group
of lads here who
just want to be in
the Final.
Ulster’s Head Coach gives his thoughts on
our Challenge Cup Semi-Final opponents,
Leicester Tigers.
“This game is going to be a big challenge
for us. It would be a mistake to think that
because Leicester sit below Northampton
in the Premiership, or that Northampton
beat Leicester last week, this is going to
be an easier game than Northampton was
[in the Quarter-Final]. I don’t see it like
that at all. I think it will be a more difficult
game for us with a more difficult opposition
than Northampton – that’s not to say that
Northampton aren’t a quality side because
they are.
“Leicester, in the way that they play, unless
you’re able to do certain things in the game,
they can make you struggle. You have to be
able to deal with their set piece, their aerial
kicking game, as well as their hard runners.
These are three aspects of rugby that are
critical. If you don’t deal with any one of
those, it doesn’t matter how well you play,
you can be in trouble.
“The breakdown battle is going to be tough.
Some teams offer different threats and
Leicester pose threats in many aspects. One
is winning the collision of the ball-carrier
against the tackler. They also offer jackal
threats; they’re able to work prior to the
ball-carrier going to the ground, and after.
They have a good game with the counterruck
as well. If they’re kicking in behind
us and we’re running back, we have to be
strong at those breakdowns as well.
“This is our Semi-Final and there’s a group
of lads here who just want to be in the Final.
It’s not about responsibility for anybody’s
doings in the past. Our goal is to be
consistently competing for Championships.
We’re in the process of doing that; we’ve
put ourselves into a position where we can
get into a final. We know how difficult it is in
whatever competition you play in and we’re
relishing that.
“And in terms of what would it mean to be in
a final? It would be great, awesome. It means
we’re still competing for Championships
and there are a lot of guys who want to do
that. We have a lot of guys who have never,
or have had limited opportunities, to win
silverware at this level, because there’s only
one team in every competition who can do
it every year. It’s a rarity, so it’s great we’re
in there, competing.”
UlsterRugby.com 13

Will Addison
Utility Back
20/08/1992
185cm
93kg
20
4
The versatile back made his long-awaited
return from injury last week against
Connacht, and he’s delighted to be back
in the fold.
Welcome back Will! How did you find your
first game back after over a year on the
side lines?
It was brilliant to get back; it’s obviously
been a long stretch of time out. I found
it very strange coming back to an empty
stadium; it was my first experience playing
in that environment! It made the nerves a
little bit easier, but it was still great to get
back. Hopefully we’ll have crowds back
soon, but I was delighted to get out on the
pitch for half an hour.
It must have been a frustrating time for
you being out for so long. Can you tell us
what motivated you during your time out?
The big motivation was to get back fit
amongst a really good group of lads and
start playing again. It’s been a strange year
for everyone, but it’s been tough being out
for so long, stuck in lockdown for the first
period, and then when things weren’t going
well and I needed the operation, rehab
felt quite up-and-down which was hard to
take. I’ve been really pushing myself to get
through that and relied on my team-mates,
my friends and my family to get through that.
The motivation for me was to get an Ulster
shirt back on and back playing because I feel
I’ve got a lot of potential left in my career,
and I want to fulfil that. There were a lot of
different motivations but getting on the field
was one of the biggest for me.
Aside from rehab, were you able to work
on other aspects of the game? We know
Ulster’s Skills Coach, Dan Soper does a lot of
skills work with players in the rehab group…
Yeah, that’s massive and it’s a really good
distraction from the day-to-day routine
of rehab which can be quite arduous
and monotonous at times. That work is
something I really enjoy because I like to
come out of any injury with another string
to my bow or to make myself a better
player while I’ve been injured. The skills
work with Sopes is really invaluable.
It’s been a good year for self-reflection
for all the players because we’ve had so
much time isolated. It’s been a really good
time to sharpen the blade – listening to
podcasts and reading books. There’s been
a lot of time and energy put into furthering
myself off the pitch as well as on it.
How much of an influence has Dan Soper
been on you as a player?
He’s been brilliant and I’m delighted that
he’ll be Assistant Coach from next season
as he’s such a good bloke and an excellent
rugby mind. I’m chuffed to bits for him
and excited to be working with him on the
attack side of things. I know his experience
with the younger players, especially the
UlsterRugby.com 15

guys he coached at school, he had a
massive influence on them. They’ve done
so well already – the likes of James Hume
and Mikey Lowry to name a couple. For me
personally, he’s such a steady bloke and so
chilled-out that nothing seems to faze him.
It rubs off on the guys as you can see how
calm John Cooney is when he kicks at goal
with the steady influence that Sopes is next
to him. He’s imaginative and ingenious in
his rugby mind as well, so he thinks outside
of the box and adds massive value to us as
individuals and to the team.
You’ve come back at a crucial time of the
season for Ulster; how has the squad been
preparing this week?
You never like to lose but you always
want to take something out of a loss. It’s
an opportunity to get better; that’s what
last week was against Connacht. It was
frustrating but it really sharpens the mind
ahead of a physical week against Leicester
who have really gone back to their roots as
one of the best teams in England at playing
a physical game. We know what we’re up
against so that means you have to be really
sharp mentally to prepare yourself for a
battle. We want to back up what we’re
talking about in training. We want to meet
fire with fire and let our game flow off the
back of that physical bedrock we put in.
What would it mean to win the Challenge
Cup, for you as a player and the squad as
a whole?
It’s massive. We want to be always
competing for Championships and the
Challenge Cup is a huge goal now. We’re
two games away but we have to do what’s
right in front of us and that’s to win the
Semi-Final first before thinking about the
end goal. Certainly, for me personally, I’d
love to win multiple trophies while I’m at
Ulster. Hopefully the Challenge Cup game
this week is a good opportunity for us as
a group. We’re frustrated that we haven’t
won a trophy in the last few years, so we
feel it’s a now-or-never moment for us.
Thank You!
Ulster Rugby wish to thank all of our sponsors
and partners for their continued support.
Main Sponsor
Kit Sponsor
Official Sponsors
Domestic Sponsors
Official On-kit Sponsors
mmw
Millar McCall Wylie
LIVE STATS
Click Here
Official Partners
UlsterRugby.com
17

UlsterRugby.com