Ulster have been paired with English Premiership side Saracens in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. The winner of the game will then have home advantage in the semi-final of the competition against either Toulon or Leicester Tigers.
Despite having won five of their six Pool games, including a first-ever competitive win in France, Mark Anscombe’s side missed out on a home quarter-final. The Province finished on 23 points, level with Saracens and Toulon, but having scored fewer tries, finished as 5th placed qualifier.
Ulster will take on a Saracens side whose Director of Rugby, Mark McCall, lifted the European Cup for the Province with the current Director of Rugby at Ulster, David Humphreys, at Lansdowne Road in 1999.
McCall also coached Ulster between 2004 and 2007 and led the Province to the Celtic League title in 2006.
Reacting to the news that Ulster will play Saracens, Ulster Head Coach, Mark Anscombe, said:
“The eight teams in the quarter-finals are all high quality sides, so there was never going to be such thing as a favourable draw. It’s disappointing not to be at home – we dropped our guard by not beating Northampton at Ravenhill and that has cost us.
“Hopefully we will get our injured players back for the quarter-final. It is two and a half months away, so a lot is going to happen between now and then. With the way the semi-final draw has worked out there is a massive incentive there.“
As host club, Saracens will nominate a venue for the match. At present, there is no confirmation as to where the game will be played.
Ticket details will be released in the coming weeks, but current 2012-13 season ticket holders will have priority booking for quarter-final tickets. The number of tickets that are available to each season ticket holder will be confirmed in due course.
The Ulster Rugby ticket office have advised all season ticket holders to ensure they can log into their valid season ticket account as tickets will primarily be on sale online.
