Boks bring killer instinct

ULSTER coach Brian McLaughlin has said many times that the reason for the team’s improvement is experience, character and the hard-nose leadership shown by many of his players.

All those qualities will be needed when Ulster, clear outsiders, face the daunting task of facing Northampton at the compact stadium:mk tomorrow (2pm).

The influx of big Springbok names and tough attitude of home grown players has seen Ulster in the hunt for silverware on two fronts this season.

McLaughlin names, bar Stephen Ferris, a full-strength team with Chris Henry getting the nod ahead of Willie Faloon at openside in the only change from last week’s narrow squeak against the Scarlets.

But it is the likes of classy scrum-half Ruan Pienaar, number eight Pedrie Wannenburg and the popular Johann Muller who have brought the killer instinct.

Muller has been the key.

The bean-pole giant has brought a winning ethos with him and it has grown on this current Ulster squad.

“It’s our biggest test of the season so far but this is why we play this game,” he said.

“We play for big occasions like this, it’s as simple as that.

“There is also the carrot of a ‘home’ tie at the Aviva if we win. I’m not too worried about performances. I think character is a lot more important to us than performances at this stage.”

The Saints though pose the biggest threat so far to their ambitions. Coming off two big wins in the Premiership with their international players the fuse, they can be arrogant and lethal when they hit a rhythm.

The Saints, who lifted the cup in beating Munster 8-5 at Twickenham the year after Ulster had laid waste to Colomiers in the final at Lansdowne Road, are at their best at home at Franklin’s Gardens.

With a meagre 4,000 travelling fans in an enclosed stadium, the remainder of the 22,000 capacity crowd will be wearing green, black and yellow.

“I just thought about it while we were training this week; I don’t think one of the players in this whole group has played in the quarter-final of a Heineken Cup before and that’s really exciting.

“Hopefully we can live up to the standard we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season,” said Muller.

“We’re obviously going there as huge underdogs, which suits us perfectly. “They’re a really good side. They’ve got a great pack of forwards and a back three who can score tries from all over the place.”

In the past, an Ulster performance sailing close to the wind would be disastrous. Now, they know how to dog it out and that is likely to be the case on Sunday. But it will take every player to be on top of an error-free game to come up trumps.

Picture: Ulster's Johan Muller and squad members during training at Ravenhill yesterday. Picture: INPHO/Presseye/Darren Kidd