Wikipedia describes a red herring as something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion.
But there is nothing red herring about Ulster’s South African-born and -schooled Rob Herring and there is no false conclusion. Herring, the player and not the expression, has only ever led Ulster’s passionate rugby audiences to one conclusion – and that is of a world-class player and quality human being.
Herring, of all the celebrated South African players who have won favour with Ulster’s rugby public, is the one who has done it as an Ulsterman. He arrived in Belfast more than a decade ago as a youngster and over the next 10 years would complete all his professional rugby apprenticeship out of Ulster.
Herring’s classroom education may have come in South Africa but his rugby education is all about Ulster and Ireland. It is here where he has made a name for himself as one of the best hookers in Ireland and if Ulster are to beat rivals Munster in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-finals, then you can be guaranteed Herring will be at the forefront of the triumph.
Veteran Springboks Ruan Pienaar, Marcell Coetzee, Robbie Kempson, the late Pedrie Wannenburg and most recently Duane Vermeulen have all made their mark with Ulster, but all of them arrived in Belfast as Springbok Test players. Louis Ludik, who played 112 matches for Ulster between 20014 and 2017, also arrived as a very experienced Super Rugby player.
Herring’s journey is very different. He had played just two matches for DHL Western Province before making his debut for Ulster in 2012, via a brief Academy spell at London Irish.
In fact, Herring told RugbyWorld magazine, that he initially turned down Ulster’s approach because he wanted to stay in Cape Town and complete his studies.
Herring, schooled at South Africa’s oldest school, SACS, played Varsity Cup for Maties (Stellenbosch University) and was intent to study first and then determine whether he had a professional rugby career.
It all changed when he decided to give it a ‘short-term crack’ at Ulster. This short term is now closer to 11 years, almost the time Herring joked it took him to finish that Varsity degree.
Herring’s career has always been followed closely in South Africa and his highs for Ulster and Ireland have always been well documented.
Ulster’s brand has also never needed an introduction to the South African rugby public because of the likes of Herring having such a presence over the past decade.
Herring, who has played 211 matches for Ulster, said that first season in Belfast as a 20-year-old, nearly didn’t happen.
‘I initially said ‘no’ to Ulster. I still don’t know how they found out about me but a couple of weeks after that Varsity Cup final my brother-in-law got a call from David Humphreys, who’d heard I’d got an Irish passport through my grandparents’ ancestry, had seen my clips and asked if I wanted to come over to play in Ireland. But I’d only been back in Cape Town [from London Irish] for eight months, had just started studying and was happy to be home.
‘Then I got a call from the Connacht director of rugby and that made me think maybe there is an opportunity over there. Ulster wanted me to come over for two years, so I said to David Humphreys, ‘I’m quite happy at home, why don’t I come over for six months? If it works out I stay, if not I go home and next year I’m studying’. He agreed to that, so I gave it a crack. I was fortunate to have a good pre-season, played a lot of rugby in that first part of the season and then signed for three years.’
That three years has now become 10 years and counting.
ROAD TO THE PLAYOFFS: ULSTER (3RD)
SEASON SNAPSHOT
But for the distraction of Champions Cup rugby, Ulster may well have been in the pound seats when the URC playoffs came into focus.
The Irish club showed their pedigree in doing the double over table-topping Leinster to ultimately cross the finish line in third place with 12 wins and six losses.
Ulster powered out of the gates with wins over Glasgow Warriors, Zebre Parma, Benetton and the Emirates Lions to secure second place after four rounds, and they put together another run between the end of January and the middle of March, scalping Scarlets, Connacht, Dragons, Cardiff and Leinster in succession.
However, both streaks were followed by losses that spanned Ulster’s European commitments.
Champions Cup victories over Clermont and Northampton appeared to come at the expense of their URC ambitions as the Irish club suffered a surprise defeat by Ospreys before travelling to France, and then went down 18-13 at Munster after beating Northampton.
And later in the season there again appeared to be hidden costs as Ulster endured a winless tour of South Africa before the Champions Cup two-leg round of 16 against Toulouse, and they were again beaten by Munster on returning to URC duty. They finished the season with an outstanding home win against the Cell C Sharks, which ensured a home quarter-final.
STAR PERFORMER
While fullback Mike Lowry offered great value in attack, and Ireland flank Nick Timoney led the team with six tries and the league in tackles completed, it was 20-year-old scrumhalf Nathan Doak that provided the consistency in Ulster’s campaign.
Son of former Ulster coach Neil Doak, Nathan started 11 matches and yet finished as the club’s leading point-scorer, dotting down for three tries and kicking the remainder of his 116 points.
DECISIVE WIN
Lowry scored a try and Doak kicked two penalties and a conversion as Ulster edged Leinster 18-13 in March, but sweeping the defending champions wouldn’t have been possible without the earlier victory against the eventual log leaders in Dublin.
Tries from Greg Jones and James Hume, complemented by the boot of Doak and John Cooney helped Ulster hand Leinster their only home loss of the Vodacom URC season.
NEXT:
Quarter-final 3 vs Munster at Kingspan Stadium, Belfast (3 June)
Photo: Inpho Photography
