Rugby

Ruan Pienaar and Rory Best look ahead to a PRO12 final

Ulster's Ruan Pienaar (above) and Rory Best (below) 
Ulster's Ruan Pienaar (above) and Rory Best (below)  Ulster's Ruan Pienaar (above) and Rory Best (below) 

REALISING time isn't on their side, Ulster fly-half Ruan Pienaar and hooker Rory Best have dared to dream and look a little further ahead than Friday night's PRO12 semi-final with Leinster at the RDS and kick the traditional one game at a time approach into touch.

At the age of 33 and 32 respectively, neither player has tasted success in the era when the play-offs have been used to determine the destiny of the trophy, although Ulster captain Best is one of three survivors from the team that lifted the old Celtic League title back in 2006.

Best was joined by Andrew Trimble and Roger Wilson in the side that defeated the Ospreys 19-17 a decade ago with a last-gasp drop goal kicked by David Humphreys.

Humphreys' current-day successor in the number 10 jersey desperately wants to bring home some silverware when he eventually hangs up his boots: "We play because we enjoy it and because we want to win something, that drives me every day, to try and lift something with this club and that is my ultimate goal before I leave here," said 88-time capped South African international Pienaar.

"Being a part of this squad and only coming close in not only finals, but semi-finals as well, has been tough, The chances might be lessening and, for me, I would like to win something with this club sooner rather than later."

However, Pienaar realises history isn't on Ulster's side in meetings with Leinster when the stakes are highest and particularly on opposition turf. No away team has ever managed to win a PRO12 semi-final in a dozen games since the play-offs were introduced in the 2009-10 season and Leinster defeated Ulster in the 2013 final and at the semi-final stage the following season.

However, Ulster should go into the game with renewed confidence after crushing Leinster 30-6 only three weeks ago when on a run of four wins on the bounce: "A couple of weeks ago, we were under pressure and we had to win all our games to qualify for the top-four and, mentally and physically, I think we're in a good place," Pienaar added.

"I think we've played our best rugby over the last month so, hopefully, when the pressure comes on now, we will be able to operate and perform well. We will need to do our basics well and I think that, in the past, when we've gone down there, they've managed to build scoreboard pressure after we'd given them soft points by making mistakes."

Best is equally keen to banish the memory of past failures against Leinster and he is desperate to get his hands on a trophy, 10 years after doing so in a somewhat different set of circumstances in Wales.

"These are knock-out matches with no bonus-points, no second chance, no nothing, our boys have a big challenge against some of the best players in Ireland. It's a great challenge for them and I fell confident we'll step up to the mark," said the 94-time capped Ireland player.

"It's been a tough season, what with the disappointment over the World Cup and then, in the Six Nations it really felt like a job with a lot of pressure. Now I'm back [with Ulster], it's a young exciting bunch of players and you really feel as if you're enjoying rugby again.

"I've won a few things in my time but one of my biggest regrets is that I haven't been able to lift anything as Ulster captain. You go back to the 2006, there were no play-offs, top-of-the-table and that was it but to go into a final, a one off game when there's only two teams in it.

"That would be a massive thing for me to be involved in; obviously we have a massive 80 minutes before we even think about that but the motivation for me is just trying to lift a trophy with Ulster."

Ulster director of rugby Less Kiss expects a very different challenge in the rematch after that 24-point win over Leinster three weeks ago: "Yes, it was a good win for us, but I’ve got to say that Leinster were probably a little under-done and a lot of players who had played a lot of rugby," he said.

"They’ve got another couple [of games] under their belt now and I suspect they will be in a far better place. They will obviously be a lot more comfortable at home and they will certainly not be the same team that we played a few weeks ago and I don’t mean in personnel, but the type of game they will play.

"We will have to steel ourselves and put ourselves in a space that stands up and delivers and make sure we stay there.  It’s essential we do the basics well, hold on to the ball and execute our plans."

TEAM NEWS


Leinster: I Nacewa (capt.); D Kearney, G Ringrose, B Te'o, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan J McGrath, R Strauss, M Ross, D Toner, M Kearney, R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Heaslip; Replacements: S Cronin, P Dooley, T Furlong, R Molony, J Conan, L McGrath, I Madigan, Z Kirchner.


Ulster: J Payne; A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; C Black, R Best (capt.), R Lutton, P Browne, F van der Merwe, I Henderson, C Henry, S Reidy; Replacements: R Herring, K McCall, A Warwick, R Diack, R Wilson, P Marshall, S Olding, D Cave.