Ulster put their Best forward

 

The 1999 European champions fought hard in tough conditions to secure a bonus point 24-9 victory and keep their slim quarterfinal hopes alive. 

 

They looked dead and buried after rounds one and two but Best has warned Toulon and Leicester to watch their backs ahead of the return fixture at Parc Y Scarlets next weekend.

 

He said: "We made a statement and we did what we needed to do, but there is still a lot to come from this team. The tough thing with these back-to-back games is backing the result up. We said after Round Two, write us off at your peril.

 

"Nobody knows what it will take to get through as a second-placed team so all we can do is look after ourselves and try and chip off the wins as they come. They're a tough side who are very underrated and are even better at home, they showed that against Leicester," he added.

 

The Ulster skipper drove over to secure the crucial bonus-point score to leapfrog the Scarlets into third place in Pool Three. They now face the challenge of becoming the first side since last January to topple Wayne Pivac's side at home in Europe, with Harlequins the last side to do that in Round Five last season.

 

Best said: "We were under a wee bit of pressure having not won a game yet and we dug in well. We were a bit scrappy in the first-half, our lineout didn't function but we regrouped at half-time and we knew if we could get the backs a bit of ball then they would be dangerous.

 

"It wasn't an an easy night to play rugby and to get four tries here is a good effort. It wasn't a perfect performance but it's the sign of a good team when you don't play that well but get a result like the one we got."