ULSTER CAPTAIN, JOHANN Muller, has issued a strong declaration of his side’s intent leading into Saturday’s Heineken Cup semi-final.
Since impressively seeing off Munster in the last round, Brian McLauglin’s side have taken the foot off the pedal in the Rabodirect Pro12, losing both inter-provincial meetings against Connacht and Leinster.
Now that their fate is sealed in the league competition Muller says the pack’s effort shows they are well and truly focused on Saturday afternoon at the Aviva.
“We had Monday off and (Tuesday) we got together.” Muller told UlsterRugby.com, “The first thing we did was a scrum session with the forwards and, you can ask Brian, the intensity of that was probably highest that it’s been since I’ve been here over the past two years.”
Muller then had a stern rebuke for anyone who felt that the northern province would allow Edinburgh to come in as underdogs and take them by surprise, saying:
“Everybody knows what we’re playing for – when people say we’re not taking Edinburgh serious I think it’s the biggest mistake they can make.
“Because I can tell you one thing, this squad and these players cannot wait for Saturday afternoon. It’s the biggest game for 13 years for this club and probably the biggest game that a lot of these games have ever played in.”
On a personal level, Muller will use previous disappointments to drive him on, not only with Ulster, but also a crushing last gasp defeat in the 2007 Super 14 final with the Natal Sharks.
In comparison to that and a Currie Cup victory, Muller says this European semi-final is: “Right up there, the prize that’s there… we probably deserve a semi-final spot, but that’s the only thing we’ve got at this stage.”
“I can’t wait for Saturday, I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody on that pitch and ready to fire.”
