Bring it on, declares upbeat Jono Gibbes

Ulster head coach Jono Gibbes says his players are eager to take on Pool One leaders La Rochelle in the Champions Cup at Kingspan on Saturday, spurred on by the prospect of reaching the quarter-final stages for the first time since 2014.

“There are lots of consequences to Saturday’s game against what’s a highly-motivated and quality French side, but bring it on,” said Gibbes.

“What is disappointing, really disappointing, is that we come into such an important game after just not being good enough against Leinster, we were just second-best, two metres behind everything they did to us in Dublin on Saturday,” he said, reflecting on the clear damage to morale following the 38-7 Guinness PRO14 defeat at the RDS.