UR-2021.22-Programme-Benetton

Hooker
27/04/1990
185cm
105kg
199
22
Rob Herring will become the seventh
Ulster man to reach the 200-appearance
milestone when he takes the field at
Kingspan Stadium on Friday evening.
First of all Rob, congratulations on
reaching the 200-appearance milestone!
You will be joining quite an exclusive club
– can you sum up how that feels?
It’s a great feeling. It’s something I will be
pretty proud of. I’ve played with all the
guys who made 200 appearances during
my time here. They’re legends of Ulster
and to get anywhere near them isn’t
something I thought I would achieve when
I first signed for the province. It’s been an
incredible journey and I’m enjoying it so far.
I’m massively proud to get that milestone.
A lot of people around me have made
sacrifices for me to be in this position and I
want to do them justice.
Cast your mind back to your first season
at Ulster in 2012; how have your ambitions
changed – if at all – as a player since
joining the province?
When I first arrived, I came over on a twoyear
contract, but I had things going on
back in South Africa – I had just started
studying – so we came to an agreement
that it would be a seven-month trial to see
if I enjoyed it and Ulster wanted to keep me.
I came over with no expectations, really - I
didn’t know much about Belfast or Ulster. In
my first season, things started to progress,
and I was playing decent rugby.
Of course, my goals changed over time.
It was to get my first Ulster cap, then I
thought maybe I could get 10, then 50.
I then thought about international selection
and that shifted again. I started believing I
could play at that level and that’s what I’ve
been chasing since then. I want to play as
much as I can for Ulster and keep
playing international rugby. Hopefully I’ll
win something with Ulster over the next
few years. That has become a major goal
for the team and for me. That’s something
that really drives me on with Ulster.
What have been the most notable changes
you’ve experienced as part of the Ulster
squad in that time?
When I first came to Ulster, we trained at
Newforge – it was a bit different back then.
On the cold days, it felt like minus degrees!
Ravenhill was class when I first arrived; I
never experienced anywhere like that before
but since they’ve redeveloped it to Kingspan
Stadium, it’s gone to another level.
There’s been a big change in the squad
over the last three or four years. When I
came in, the squad was pretty settled and
there were a lot of senior players who were
consistent international players. Those
guys have all moved on and now the squad
is really young. There are a few older guys
like myself but at the moment it’s really
young. They are a great bunch of blokes,
all working hard. The goal has always been
there for the club to win silverware, but
we’ve come up short more than a few times,
which has been massively disappointing for
everyone involved. It’s a renewed ambition
now and I think we’re in a place where
we play consistent rugby and should be
competing at the top-end and hopefully
winning things.
I really do feel at home here now. My wife
and I were dating when we moved over and
we got married since and last year, we had
our daughter, Milly. We’ve certainly seen a
fair amount of changes personally during
my time here. My wife has come over and
has been my biggest supporter and now
we’ve extended our family, it’s great to be
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