''When the draw was made, this was a game we thought we we should win.''
Who said that? Glasgow coach Kevin Greene? No, his opposite number, Dave Haslett, a Belfast school teacher - a distant relative of Reverend Howard, of Edinburgh Accies - and the man who thinks Ulster can topple Glasgow this evening at Ravenhill, kick off 7pm.
''In our interprovincial championship we have played three games and won one. Glasgow may look on us as a team they expect to beat, but that is the way we look at Glasgow.''
The two Cook Islanders, Tommy Hayes and Mike Beckham, have added skill and bulk respectively, but Glasgow enter the fray with only three games in their wake, wins over West Hartlepool and Caledonia Reds, and annihilation at the hands of London Scottish.
''Tommy and Mike give the guys confidence,'' says Greene. ''When I went back to New Zealand I was depressed about Glasgow rugby. Since I have come back I have detected a real buzz about the place. Full-time training has made a big difference. Also, Jim Telfer asked all of the district coaches to go to a meeting and he stressed that much of the future of Scottish rugby depends on these results. We have taken that on board.
''Yes, we are a lightweight pack so we will try to get around the pitch as fast as we can and play quick rugby,'' says captain Gordon Bulloch. ''We may not be a huge team, but I think that like all other districts we are fitter and better prepared than ever before. Certainly I like to think that we must be able to make an impression.''
Ulster: AN Other; J Cunningham (Ballymena), M Field (Malone), J Topping, S Coulter (both Ballymena); S Laing (Portadown), S Bell (Dungannon); R Mackey (Malone), S Richie (Ballymena), G Leslie (Dungannon), T McWhirter, G Longwell (both Ballymena), S McKinty (Bangor, capt), A Ward (Ballynahinch) K Gallic (City of Derry)
Glasgow: C Sangster (Stirling County); D Stark, M McGrandles, C Simmers (Hawks), J Craig (West of Scotland); T Hayes (undecided), F Stott (West of Scotland); G McIlwham (Hawks), G Bulloch (West of Scotland, capt), M Beckam (unatt), C Afuakwah (Hawks) G Perrett (West of Scotland), M Wallace (Hawks) D Mcleish (West of Scotland) I Sinclair (Watsonians).
JOHN BEATTIE
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