DAN SOPER FULLY FOCUSED ON ULSTER'S KEY UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASH AND PROVIDES JAMES HUME INJURY UPDATE

The Scarlets have only one win in their last 14 games while after travelling to Wales, Ulster host Leinster next week with the RDS side playing in the European Champions Cup final a week later.

"It's such a cliche but one game at a time and that's where we're at at the moment,” said Soper. “We haven't been good enough to put ourselves in two competitions at this time of the year, so we're only fighting on one front which is different to Leinster, where they're having to juggle things at the minute.

“How prepared are we? Hopefully people can see the performances over the last few weeks have been improving.

“We've got a great deal of experience in this team now and hopefully that gets us through the next few weeks.

"We'll get through the Scarlets and then we'll worry about that (Leinster).

“We finish with two inter-pro’s...there's always something different about those. Once we get through this weekend then we'll start looking at those.

“Leinster are going well at the moment so, regardless of what team they send up, that'll be a big challenge as well."

Ulster may need to finish in the top-seven to qualify for the Champions Cup next season.

"It's important to qualify for Europe – that's the competition you want to be in next season,” added Soper. “All we can do is win the next match, and the one after that, and hopefully the one after that.

“If we do that then hopefully we'll have ourselves in the top-seven. As it is, a lot of it is out of our control because the other results will determine where we finish, but we can control how we perform and hopefully get results.

“It's going to be really tight, and it means that it's not three knock-out games – it's a run of six knock-out games if we go the distance because it's so tight...you could win two of your last three games and still miss out.

“We'll just focus on this weekend and get the job done and try and keep improving on what we're doing.

“We're seeing improvement in what we're doing so if we can keep doing that then we give ourselves a fighting chance."

There was mixed news on the injury front with Rob Herring and Kieran Treadwell available for the Scarlets clash, but James Hume’s season is over.

“Unfortunately, James Hume will need ACL surgery so he's going to have an extended time on the sidelines, which is disappointing for him and for us as well,” said Soper. "He's gutted – no one wants to be out...we've had enough guys go through it that you see the battle they go through.

“James is fully aware of that. He's in good spirits, he's still about the place and getting ready for surgery, making sure he shows up as healthy as possible for that so that the recovery goes as well as it can on the other side.

“He's pretty philosophical about it. It's part of the job, the risk of injury.

“He's a determined young man so no doubt he'll see it as an opportunity to get better at other things when he gets back."

2024-05-07T21:34:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd