Business as usual for Francis Saili against Ulster

That’s the warning this week for the brilliant Charles Piutau from his one-time chum from back in their native New Zealand Francis Saili.

The pair come head to head when Ulster visit Thomond Park on Saturday afternoon for an important Guinness PRO12 encounter, with Saili adamant he will be bringing a no-holds barred approach.

“Charles is someone I played with through the grades and back home in the Super Rugby franchise and the All-Blacks as well,” said Saili.

“I know how dangerous he is and, leading into this weekend, he is going to be one of the main targets to keep an eye on. I am happy to play against Charles and like I have always said, once you cross that line, no friends on the field. Hopefully, though, I can share a beer with him after the game.”

Saili, who claims there is still no news as to whether he will be handed a new contract by Munster for next season, has been dogged by injury throughout the season. When he has been fit, he has struggled to find a place in the centre ahead of Jaco Taute and Rory Scannell. So he relishes a fixture like this weekend’s and took particular satisfaction from last week’s fourth win of the season over Glasgow.

“We are not looking too far ahead of ourselves,” he said . “Ulster this weekend is going to be a big one. It will lead us well into next week’s game with Saracens. The interprovincial matches are good, there is that rivalry between the teams and they are tough and I enjoy them. The way our season is going, everyone wants to tip us while we are sitting at the top.

“They are similar enough to the games back home. Where I’m from, Auckland, we really have one chief rivalry — against Canterbury which is Tyler’s (Bleyendaal) team. I think it is the same thing here with Munster and Leinster.

“I didn’t know how massive it was until I played at the Aviva last year and looked back at the history and the games that went along with it. There is a bit of that grudge match there. I enjoy it and I think guys who play in those games has got to relish the opportunities to be a part of it.”

Saili cites the more favourable weather conditions to explain the many high-scoring matches in the Super 12 compared to scorelines such as Munster’s 10-7 win against Glasgow last weekend. “When you are playing against a team like Glasgow, you have to grind it out and it was one of those tough games where you can’t step back from it.

“The game I played in at the weekend was probably one of the hardest I played in over the past few years. I looked at how many tackles I made in that game and I felt like I got run over by a train.

“It is slightly different if you are going to compare it to the Super Rugby because the way they play is a little different to how we played at the weekend anyway, how we just grind it out.”

Saili is non-committal on his future. Contracts are usually in place by this stage of the season which suggests his time here may be up. “That is not on the horizon at the moment, I am just trying to play good footy week in and week out. Hopefully in the next couple of months something comes through for me but until that, I am enjoying how I am going with Munster.”