| Venue: The Twickenham Stoop Date: Saturday, 20 January Kick-off: 13:00 GMT |
| Protection: Hear reside on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds, BBC Sport web site and app from 12:30 GMT, with reside textual content updates, report & response additionally obtainable on the BBC Sport web site & app |
Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey says the province can get better from their heavy loss to Toulouse by beating Harlequins to safe a Champions Cup last-16 spot.
Dan McFarland’s group head to Twickenham Stoop on Saturday on the again of a 48-24 humbling in Belfast.
Ulster have additionally misplaced to Bathtub in Pool 2 of the competitors, however defeated Racing 92 at Kingspan Stadium in December.
“Hopefully we will bounce again this week. I feel we’ll flip it spherical towards Quins,” stated McCloskey.
“It is knockout for us. I do know they’re already certified so hopefully that offers us a slight edge.
“There’s lots of enthusiasm within the group and we carried out nicely and bought good ends in our three earlier video games earlier than going through Toulouse so we aren’t too far-off,” added the Eire worldwide, who has been named in Andy Farrell’s 34-man squad for the Six Nations.
Ulster at the moment sit within the fourth place of their pool which might qualify them for the knockout levels of the Champions Cup for the fifth time in six seasons throughout McFarland’s tenure.
A drop to fifth spot within the pool on the weekend nonetheless would see them relegated to the Problem Cup competitors in April.
The Irish province have gained their previous three European encounters with Harlequins, with McCloskey having scored a attempt on their final go to to The Stoop for a Problem Cup assembly in April 2021.
“I do not actually wish to be enjoying Problem Cup and I do not assume any of the opposite guys wish to be enjoying it both,” he emphasised.
“That is a reasonably large carrot. We might a lot somewhat be enjoying Champions Cup final 16 towards a giant group, a giant fixture.
“The away kind we’ve had towards English groups in Europe in earlier years, particularly towards Quins, is one thing we will take as a optimistic.
“We should enhance among the turnover defensive stuff from the Toulouse sport, additionally among the maul defence. Assault clever guys being in place earlier, guys being in place to take alternatives we create.”
Pool scenario ‘may do with getting sorted’
The format of the Champions Cup has undergone a number of adjustments in recent times, with this yr bringing additional alterations to the pool set-up.
The competing golf equipment have been divided into 4 swimming pools of six, with every group enjoying two house video games and two away video games towards sides who they don’t face of their common leagues.
“I feel the entire pool scenario in my view may do with getting sorted once more. I do not assume individuals fairly perceive it. I nearly perceive it and I am enjoying within the video games,” argued the Eire centre.
“I nonetheless assume whenever you come out to play on an evening like Saturday night time there’s a actually good environment and there is positively one thing completely different about it in comparison with a league sport.
“When it comes all the way down to the large video games and enjoying them on the market it nonetheless has that aura however I do not get pleasure from the best way the pool levels are on the minute and I in all probability communicate for a lot of the skilled rugby gamers.”