“I think when the groups first came out back in the summer, I’d have taken today’s result quite happily, a losing bonus point against Clermont and progression to the knockout stages, but we came here looking for a win and a home quarter-final and we’re exceptionally disappointed that we didn’t achieve it.”
“The Connacht and Gloucester results last night were two great victories, but the pleasing thing for us is that when we arrived in France we needed at least a bonus point to go through, which we got today and so we’re through to the quarter-finals on our own merit. All credit to the squad and the management team, for Ulster to reach the knockout stages of this competition two years in a row is a great achievement.”
“We were always in the game today. We had to get a bonus point but we also wanted to make sure that after last weekend’s performance and result against Leicester, that we backed that up, and we wanted to make sure that we were getting people talking about us and that we were contenders for this competition. I think we did that.”
” Clermont is a very difficult place to come and play. The atmosphere today was just exceptional, it is a smashing place to play and if you ask any of the players they’ll say they really enjoyed it. The disappointing thing for us is that having pushed Clermont so hard today we’re not going to be playing a quarter-final at Ravenhill.”
