Heineken Cup: Ulster undaunted by favourites tag

“There will definitely be no under-estimating Edinburgh, it’s pretty obvious that they have scratched the Rabo a long time ago and have put all their eggs in this basket,” said Cave. “They are a very tough team to analyse, they are very unpredictable, but at the same time it’s a very good opportunity for us.

“It’s going to be very different to the Munster game as Edinburgh like to play a different way. I think one of the strengths of our team is that we can play different ways. If you look back to the Munster game we got 19 points quickly and then held on for dear life, which wasn’t the game plan, but we showed that day we are very good defensively so if we can put that together with a good attacking performance we are going to be very tough to beat.”

Cave is hoping Ulster can get out of the blocks as quickly against Edinburgh as they did at Thomond Park. “You always talk about a big start and it’s a sort of cliché but we did get the big start although we weren’t planning on going 19-0 up.”

While it may be regarded as a home semi-final in Dublin, only a handful of Ulster players have stepped out at the Aviva Stadium before. “It’s still unknown territory as nobody has played in a Heineken Cup semi-final before and no one has played for Ulster at the Aviva before, but it is not something to worry about, it’s something to be excited about.”

Cave was on the terraces in 1999 cheering Ulster through the knock-out stages as they went all the way in the competition, and he is hoping to taste the same experience as a player. “I was at the quarter, semi and final back in ’99. We went down on the bus to see Ulster win it, and I remember really well Simon Mason’s drop-goal at Ravenhill because we were behind the posts at that end. It was a big deal for me and it seems strange to be playing in it now.”

Cave has had his fair share of injuries, including a ten-week stint on the sidelines earlier in the season, and he is just happy to be fit for the semi-final. “Because of the timing of the injury it was blown out of proportion a bit, I’ve actually played 19 games for Ulster this season so it hasn’t been the worst season. Hopefully there will be at least three more games. When you play over 20 games a year you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Cave wants Ulster to concentrate on the game and not get caught up in the occasion. We’ll be trying to use the crowd to our advantage but also trying not to get too carried away and just try and play our normal game plan.

“We have got good players all over the pitch and it’s a case of trying to get our good guys in space and score some points.

“Edinburgh have shifted a lot of tries in the league but they haven’t in Europe. We are preparing for the Edinburgh team that beat Toulouse, we know we can beat them.”

Cave doesn’t think the tag of favourites will matter once the game kicks off. “We watched the Edinburgh/Toulouse game in the hotel before we played Munster but it didn’t really come into the heads. We were tagged as underdogs going into Thomond Park and people reckoned we’d lose by six to seven points, and it is the exact same but in reverse now.

“We weren’t worried about who people were saying were favourites for the quarter-final – if anything we thought it was brilliant that people thought Munster were going to win because we thought we had a chance.

“I think it doesn’t matter who people are saying will win the game – we felt going to Thomond Park we had a great chance of winning and we feel the same this week. The fact more people think we can win this game than last time doesn’t make a difference.”

Edinburgh have been virtually written off but Cave feels the Michael Bradley factor could have a big influence on the game. “I know Michael Bradley very well and I think he is a great coach, he is an incredible motivator and he will be feeding all that to them. They will not be afraid to come and have a go at us.”