HARLEQWINS

Coach Kiss knows two victories are needed

LES KISS has warned Ulster there’s no room for error heading into tomorrow’s Euro showdown with Harlequins at The Stoop.

Win and the Kingspan Stadium men, third in Pool 1 below Wasps and a formidable looking La Rochelle, remain in contention for the quarter-finals. Lose and any hopes of making the knockout stages are effectively gone before Quins travel to Belfast next Friday for the second installment of a defining double header.

The permutations are stark with games against La Rochelle at home and Wasps away concluding the campaign next month.

Kiss, who isn’t helped by the late loss of captain Rory Best to a foot infection, said: “You look at the pools and it is make or break for some teams.

“This week is big for Europe and these two games are important in terms of where it ends up. If you can nail this first fixture it can put scoreboard pressure across all the pools.

“If we get the money this week we change the nature of the competition from what everyone thinks they have to do and then we also get the comforts of home.

“Would you prefer to play

Quins at home first? Perhaps but the opportunity is there to do something strong and make a statement.”

While Harlequins prop up the pool with just one point from their opening games, Kiss anticipates an onslaught from a team dotted with international quality. England’s Mike Brown captains the side in the absence of James Horwill while Lions prop Kyle Sinckler returns to a front row that includes fellow Lion Joe Marler.

Quins also offered a timely reminder of their qualities last week when they beat European champions Saracens 20-19 in the Aviva Premiership. Kiss said: “Harlequins have a team we thought they would pick and it’s certainly going to be a tough battle.

“I was at the game last week and they just kept fighting to the back end. They also got three tries through kicks, mainly from Danny Care, so we’ve got to keep an eye on him.”

On giving Iain Henderson (inset) the captaincy, Kiss said: “Iain is a major part of us trying to leave something on this game. He’s comfortable taking the reins.”