ULSTER HEAD coach Richie Murphy had described the signing of Juarno Augustus from reigning Premiership champions Northampton Saints as “a statement” of the province’s ambitions for both the URC and Europe.
The powerful backrower will join Ulster next season and Murphy expects the South African to bring a point of difference to the province through the 26-year-old’s notable ball-carrying and overall dynamism.
Murphy said: “It’s a statement of where we want to get to.
“He’s a top-class player, and he’s in his prime.
“He’s been a very effective ball carrier in the Premiership the last few seasons, so we’re really delighted to get him here.”
Seventh-placed Ulster return to URC action on Friday when they host leaders Leinster — who have won six from six — in Belfast and Murphy is determined that his squad hit back after letting things slip a month ago in Cardiff ahead of the month’s break
“(It’s a) Massive game for us coming off the back of Cardiff, which was a disappointing way to finish,” Murphy stated.
“Leinster at home is a game that the Ulster boys always rise for. They’ve come up here towards the end of last season and we beat them with the last play of the game, so they’ll be looking for revenge and at the moment they are looking very strong.
“Obviously, they’re missing a lot of players to international camp, which shows you the strength of the team when you think what will show up here on Friday night.
“They’re conceding less than two tries a game, they’re very hard to score against. They’ve become a much tougher team to play against than even last season, so finding opportunities to launch your attack is difficult against them,” added Murphy.
“They’re still going to have probably five or six internationals. They’ve an incredible squad, very strong.
“But we’re very excited, we’ve worked hard over the last few weeks, and we feel that areas of our game that we’ve focused on have improved, so no better test than Leinster to test that out,” he added.
Ulster will have Ireland squad member and backrower Nick Timoney released for Friday evening, though Jacob Stockdale will be out for a number of weeks following his hamstring injury against Fiji.
Utility back Stewart Moore is fit again, and, in another boost, hooker Tom Stewart should see his first gametime of the season after recovering from an ankle injury.
However, Ethan McIlroy, Sean Reffell, Jake Flannery and long-termers Robert Baloucoune and James Hume are all injured.
Well done to Stephen for sharing his story, the mind is a powerful thing and the effects our thoughts can have on our body. I’m sure anorexia is more prevalent than we think with males and does not only affect females. Glad he has come out the other side and his life is going well now.
Immense inner strength to come through it all and hugely considerate and brave to share his journey in the hope of helping others.
Well done Stephen… You battled through and you’ll have a lifelong benefit from the struggle you’ve endured. Best of luck with the rest of your life and of course Round Towers (Lusk) too.
5 and a half stone is 35kg. Let’s say your an 18 year old and ur 83kg and u lose that much then you’re 48kg. Thats really unhealthy and if u don’t eat enough food then youll have no energy for exercise. Sounds awful
@Eoin Murphy:
Definitely a tough station.
His starting weight was 114kg & he lost 35kg to bring him down to 79kg which is very light for a man of his frame.
Some mental battle to win.
@Liam H: sorry i missed that part its a long article. There are some third years in the rugby who weigh more than without an ounce of fat