Former Ireland star Stephen Ferris believes Ulster will be looking for redemption when they take on Connacht in Belfast on Friday night.
The last meeting between the two sides at the Kingspan Stadium saw Ulster go down to a 15-10 home defeat in the Vodacom URC quarter-finals back in May.
Ferris will be a Viaplay pundit for this weekend’s rematch and expects the team he made more than 100 appearances for to be suitably fired up.
“There seems to be something within the lads of looking for some redemption for that quarter-final exit last season,” he said.
“But it’s going to be a tough game.
“Connacht have lost their last four, so they are going to be looking for a pick-me-up as well.
“It should make for an entertaining game.”
The two sides go into the match on the back of contrasting results in the Investec Champions Cup.
Connacht shipped 96 points in defeats to Bordeaux Begles (41-5) and Saracens (55-36), while UIster bounced back from losing at Bath by recording a stirring 31-15 win at home to Racing 92 last weekend.
Ferris says the importance of that victory over the star-studded Parisian outfit can not be overstated going into the Vodacom URC festive derbies.
“It would almost have been season over before Christmas if they had lost that one,” he says.
“Everyone was on a bit of a downer, deflated with the performances, couldn’t really see anything coming.
“Sometimes, it just takes a big performance against a French side.
“Ulster just got off to a really good start and kept the foot down.
“The physicality they showed, more so without the ball, was off the charts. It’s probably the best physical performance I have witnessed in a couple of seasons.
“They kept putting Racing under pressure. That’s not about how skillful you are or how you execute plays – that’s about getting off the line and making dominant hits and making the ruck chaotic.
“We saw the line speed that has been missing all season.
“It just felt like there was a completely different intent.
“It takes an occasion where, if they had lost, they were probably out of the competition to bring that out of them.
“There would definitely have been words said beforehand that they needed to up the tempo and go out and play.
“If Ulster play the same way they did against Racing and Connacht play like they have played all season then it should be an absolute belter.
“Connacht have the capability to score tries from anywhere, but they have been shipping a shedload of points recently. That’s not good for confidence and some players might start to doubt defensive strategies.
“We know how good they are with ball in hand, but it’s whether they can stop Ulster.
“I’m just not sure if they will be able to come to Belfast and get a result against a side that will be feeding massively off that confidence of beating Racing.
“So I believe Ulster will kick on after that big result and win the game by maybe seven or ten points.”
Ferris is also predicting a victory for Munster over Leinster at Limerick’s Thomond Park on Boxing Day.
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