ROB HERRING IS targeting a first European final for Ulster in nine years as they bid to put Friday’s nightmare against Connacht behind them.
Ulster threw away a 10-point lead to lose a game they looked like easily winning at one stage. Now, though, they have to refocus instantly, ahead of this week’s Challenge Cup semi-final against Leicester.
“As a club, where we want to go, we need to be winning these semi-finals,” said Herring. “It’s a step forward from previous years in Europe so it’s a big occasion.
“It’s a young squad that we have here so it’s a massive chance to take the next step to where we feel we want to be going – always competing for championships. It’s massively exciting to be in this position, to be going into a semi-final. We’ve done it the hard way now, away from home, and it’s another big challenge but we’re massively looking forward to it.”
Before they look forward, they need to reflect on what happened at Friday. Like Gloucester earlier this season, they had a winning position in the closing moments. On each occasion, they lost.
“If you look at Friday’s game overall, Connacht had most of the momentum,” said Herring. “Yes, we had a few swings when we came back but you can’t take away from their performance. They came up here and they really performed. Like I said, if we’d won that we’d have thought that we got away with one. All we can do is be honest with ourselves and look forward to the next week.”
For coach, Dan McFarland, the difference was simple: Connacht won the collisions.
Herring added: “What Dan is saying is spot on. What Connacht did to us here is what we did to them in Galway over Christmas. They were very good physically, they used their momentum well.
“Going to Leicester, going to Welford Road, that’s one of the most physical places you can go. We know that standard out there isn’t us as a squad, that’s not what we’re about.
“It’s unfortunate particularly because we’re at home. We never want to put out that type of performance anywhere but especially at home. It’s something we’ll look at it but all we can do is get back to doing what we do well and that’s hopefully what we’re going to put on the pitch next week.”
