Mike Lowry 'honoured' to lead Ulster out in 100th appearance as province seal bonus point victory away at Scarlets

The maximum five points at Parc y Scarlets leaves Ulster sixth in the table with two games of the regular season remaining and after Connacht’s defeat in Munster, they now have a five-point cushion over ninth place in the race for the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals.

Lowry revealed that he had to be persuaded to lead the team out in Llanelli to mark his century of appearances.

“Looking back, I’m really glad I did it, I did lead the team out because you never know when it is you last game or you last opportunity to lead Ulster out on the pitch,” he said.

“I was pressured into it by a few boys, it is not really in my nature to lead the boys out but I’m very grateful to be able to do it, so I’m very happy.

“It is such an honour, a few boys gave a few nice words before the game and I sort of started tearing up myself, that just shows how good a group the boys are and help me through.

“They made it really special for me and I can’t thank everyone enough – family, friends, the team, support staff, everyone.

“It is an absolute privilege to play for Ulster and hopefully many more to come.”

After trailing 6-3 at half time Lowry was delighted that Ulster scored four tries after the break to leave 31-20 victors.

He added: “That is what we came here for as the table is so tight we needed the five points. It was a nice day to play rugby and thankfully we got over the line against a good Scarlets side that wanted to throw the ball about.

“Five points in the bag, a lot to work on again but looking forward to Leinster now.

“We have to credit Scarlets, they had nothing really to play for and we knew how good an attacking side they would be.

“The coaches that are there now used to coach us so they knew us inside out and what to come after us with.

“It was a tough game, it was hot conditions and they had us on the back foot for the first 20 minutes or so but we were very calm, took our breaths and we always knew what we were capable of.

"Once we got into our shape and played in the right areas of the pitch, we knew what we could do and thankfully we got over the line a few times and got the bonus point.”

Ulster face Leinster on Saturday night at Kingspan Stadium in their last regular home game of the season in another must win game.

“There is no bigger challenge than Leinster, interpro derby it will be a special occasion, hopefully the Kingspan is sold out,” Lowry commented.

“It is another massive game for us, the table is so tight with victories for teams that are in and around us this weekend too.

“Every point is vital now and it is getting to that stage of the season now we’re fighting for play-offs and every game is nearly a play-off game.

“I can’t wait, we love interpros and thankfully we are at home again.”