Augustus will be 'menace on the pitch' - Herring

Long-serving Ulster hooker and the province's new recruit Juarno Augustus

Long-serving Ulster hooker Rob Herring says the province's South African back-row signing Juarno Augustus has the ability to make a big impact for the team this year as they attempt to improve their fortunes after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign.

The 27-year-old has joined Ulster on a three-year contract after helping Northampton Saints reach last season's Investec Champions Cup final.

He made his debut as a second-half substitute in last week's 42-21 win over the Dragons and is again named as a replacement for Friday's United Rugby Championship away encounter against Edinburgh.

"Some of the stuff he's been doing in training, you can see he's going to be a menace on the pitch," Herring, who has racked up 255 appearances since joining Ulster in 2012, told BBC Sport NI.

"He's a pretty world class signing for us to bring in and it's really cool to be able to attract signings like that to this province.

"He's been good, he's a really sound lad and just gets on with things. We hope to see a lot of him on the pitch this year."

Herring reflects on some of the strengths he believes the number eight will bring to the side.

"He's a big boy, he runs hard, yet he's got that soft touch with the ball skills and the off-load.

"He really opens things up for players around him and we saw a lot of that at Northampton, where a lot of the good things they did were based around him.

"It's exciting to see how he fits into out structure and expresses himself within our structure. Hopefully he can set up a few boys to do some special things."

Herring, who boasts 43 international caps, was not part of the Irish squad which beat Georgia and Portugal in the summer and says he has benefitted from getting a full pre-season of preparation under his belt.

"I feel really good. Being here for a full pre-season is actually very good for the body and for the mind.

"I feel really motivated this year to get at it again and try to bring a bit of success back to this province.

"It's been a brilliant pre-season with a lot of young guys stepping up and a bit of a fresh feeling to the squad. It's nice to see in the first games we have played some of the stuff we have been working on coming to life."

'We've got to be a lot better'

Ulster suffered a humbling 47-17 defeat on their last visit to Edinburgh in their final URC game of last term.

The Scottish outfit will be aiming to bounce back though from a disappointing 31-28 defeat away to Zebre in their URC opener last weekend.

"They're a tough team, very physical, and have got a lot of star quality," observed Herring.

"I think we let ourselves down there on the last game of last season but we expect the same from them, they're at home and they're going to want to bring the physicality and defend their patch.

"We've got to be a lot better than we were last time round."

The Ulster number two retains ambitions of playing for Ireland again, but faces stiff competition from current regulars, Leinster pair Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher.

"I'll see how we go. You've got two good hookers there in Dan and Ronan, who performed brilliantly with the Lions.

"They've really established themselves as world-class operators at that level.

"We've got some young guys coming through as well. I have some open conversations with the Ireland guys and we'll see where things land up towards the end of the year."