Ulster were excluded from the Investec Champions Cup after Ireland internationals Ian Henderson, Nick Timane, Tom Stewart and Jacob Stockdale returned for the trip to Swansea to face the Ospreys on Sunday afternoon. Since then, he has been given momentum heading into the first match.
Skipper Henderson was the only player of the quartet to feature in the Six Nations, coming off the bench against Italy on Sunday.
All four trained at Kingspan Stadium yesterday afternoon and assistant coach Dan Soper confirmed they would all be available for the trip to Wales.
“We’ve got a few guys back, so we’ll see how they go. After Wednesday’s training, we’ll settle down and pick a weekend team that we think best fits our needs this weekend,” Soper said. .
“They are great people and we love being around them.”
“They’re getting that energy back around the Ireland squad at the moment and we’re going to take advantage of that and see what they’re doing on the ground and see if there’s any little things that we can find. We are currently investigating.”
“That’s what’s really important to us. That’s how you continue to grow.”
“It’s great to see them and see the energy they bring back. If we pick some of them, they’ll bring energy to us.”
An Ulster-born player did not feature in the opening Six Nations game against France, a first in Ireland’s history.
Soper believes this was due to Ireland’s very good form and poor results against Toulouse and Harlequins in the province.
“It was disappointing. We would love to see the players, but at the moment the Irish team is the most competitive in the world and the most difficult team to get into.”
“If you look at how they’re doing right now, you look at the players who have the shirt on, they’re doing amazingly well.”
“It was great to see some of the team come in at the weekend (Italy) and Stu (Stuart McCloskey) to start. I thought he was great.”
“That’s the way things are in Ireland. They have a lot of good rugby players but unfortunately for Ulster they have some players who are second choice for some spots. I hope it gets pushed up.”
“Ireland are a very strong team at the moment, difficult to break through and the result shows that.”
“Hopefully I can push the players and get more players into the Six Nations squad so they can take their chances.”
“We’re working hard to help them and they’re working hard, but at the end of the day it’s a really strong Irish team.”
Having won the Champions Cup and finished fifth in the URC at the halfway stage, Soper feels Ulster can finish the season strongly.
“We have performance markers to chase and there are parts of our game that are going very well. We are in a good position in the league and can be better and we are definitely We’re going to progress in the second half and beyond.”It’s a season where we move up the league and into a home playoff position. ”
“That’s our goal. There was obviously a disappointment with our performance in Europe. We have to accept that, but we have to move forward.”
“We’ve taken what we’ve learned from the first half of the season and there are things that are going very well and there are things that we know we need to improve to be a top-four team and we’ve improved. “I feel that way.” Deal with it. ”
BKT United Rugby Championship Round 10
Friday, February 16th (7:35pm) Scarlets v Munster; Zebre v Edinburgh
Saturday, February 17th Lions vs. Bulls (1 p.m.). Leinster v Benetton (3pm); Sharks v Stormers (3.05pm). Cardiff v Connacht (5.15pm) Glasgow v Dragons (7.35pm)
Sunday, February 18th Ospreys v Ulster (3pm)
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