Matt Faddes clear on Ulster trophy aim

It’s well documented that the last piece of silverware to come to Belfast was the 2006 Celtic League trophy, since then Ulster have lost two domestic finals and five semi-finals while in European competition they have been runners-up once and exited at the last-eight stage five times.

Faddes, who represented New Zealand at Sevens level, scored the first try in Saturday night’s victory over Munster which put Ulster 10 points clear of Leinster at the top of Conference A before the sides meet on Friday night at the RDS, although the defending champions still have two postponed fixtures to play.

“Absolutely (we can win it) and I think we have proven that over the last couple of years and we are starting to see that roll-on effect in consistency and results, at the moment it is 10 wins on the bounce in the league,” said Faddes. “There is definitely confidence to go down to the RDS and get a result.”

Ulster have only beaten Leinster once in their own backyard since 1999.

“Playing Leinster anywhere is hard, there are a clinical side, they know their strengths and they do it really well,” he said. “We have got to taken confidence from being 10 on the trot in the league, we’re definitely going down there and expecting a good performance from us and they will be wary of us as well.

“They are a clinical side but we’ll try to upset them.”

While Ulster beat Munster to make it 10 wins from 10, it was alarming they failed to score after the 28th minute.

“There were all sorts of reasons for that whether it was patience with the ball or a lack of discipline which kept Munster in our 22 or in our half,” said Faddes. “They are a gritty side and they showed up well in that second half, you take massive credit from our defensive effort, they scored just on full-time and it was a marginal call at the end.

“We’ll definitely take confidence from the defence, offense it is just a bit of precision and accuracy...the confidence and momentum we had in those first 15 minutes, if we can replicate that through a whole game we’ll be a pretty dangerous side.”

Faddes has played in nine of Ulster’s 12 games this season starting right and he feels the work in training with Jared Payne is contributing to his good form.

“Defence last year was obviously a work-on, I’ve done a lot of work with JP and that has built a confidence into how I play and defend,” he said. “I have been on the right wing for a fair chunk of my minutes this year, that just creates confidence and knowing what role I’m doing and that just transitions into a game and you create those relations amongst the players.”

Ethan McIlroy got Ulster’s other try against Munster and Faddes has been impressed by the Queen’s winger on and off the pitch

“Great player, nice bloke too, he’s a relaxed guy he doesn’t get overwhelmed by occasions,” said Faddes. “You can see it in his footie, he is comfortable under the high ball, he is good in attack and his defence tonight was good as well and he has a hell of a future ahead of him...he is nice and chilled.

“There definitely has to be a balance, there are probably a lot of players that had the potential but were too relaxed so you have to have the balance of being relaxed and having a hard-working attitude.

“Ethan is a smart footballer and will put an effort in in every game.”

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