QUINN ROUX KNOWS that Ulster will be gunning for them on Friday night as they are the last team to have defeated them at Kingspan Stadium.
That 22-15 win in October last year was Connacht’s first victory in Belfast since 1960 and while Ulster gained revenge in the play-offs in May, Roux knows it still rankles with Dan McFarland’s men.
And with Ulster having shipped a 54-42 loss away to champions Leinster on Friday night, Roux appreciates they will need to dig deep to repeat last’s milestone win.
“Everyone is seeing how well they have been doing. They seem to get the bounce of the ball most of the time. That just happens when a team finds form. It just works out very well for them. And it’s been happening for them.
“It is going to be a tough challenge. It is always tough going up to Belfast. We show at certain times that we can be that team. We just need to learn from our mistakes and make sure we can perform at a certain level that will get us results every weekend. That is what we are aiming to do,” said Roux.
It’s been a week of mixed emotions for the South African. He was recalled to the Irish squad last week for the first time since the Six Nations, on Saturday his father surprised him by arriving from South Africa to present him with his match jersey for his 100th appearance for Connacht but then there was the disappointment of the 19-14 loss to Munster.
He has become one of Connacht’s leaders in recent seasons and coach Andy Friend has been impressed with the way he dealt with his World Cup omission by using that disappointment to drive big performances for the province which have now resulted in an international recall.
“My role has been changing over the last few years, especially running the lineout. It is not just cleaning out rucks and being that enforcer player. I have enjoyed doing that and having that extra responsibility of calling the lineout.
“Adding that extra string to my bow has made me a better player and that extra responsibility definitely gets the best out of me. That has been a big growth for me and it is something I continually work on. It has been good.
“We have grown a lot as a team in Connacht. I still think we can learn a bit quicker from our mistakes but we are getting there. We just said, some of those results could have gone either way.
“But we need to learn from that and just keep on doing what we are doing because the results will come,” added the 29-year old.
He knows how important the Irish derbies are to fans and how players who might be battling each other for Irish places go toe-to-toe.
“There are always those individual battles in the inter-pros. But you can’t get lost in that because then you just go off-script and it is never good for your team.
“Ulster have some serious form in Europe and in the league. They seem to play with a lot of confidence. Dan McFarland seems to be getting the best out of them. They are a team that seems to be very dangerous so we know what we are up against.”
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