As an Ulsterman who moved to England at a young age and became an Exeter Chiefs legend, Friday’s Investec Champions Cup match between the sides at Kingspan Stadium is especially significant for Gareth Steenson.
Having failed to land a contract at Ulster, Steenson – who played for Ireland’s under-19 and under-21 sides – joined then-Division One side Rotherham Titans in 2006 in a bid to revive his career.
After a year there and another with Cornish Pirates, he signed for Exeter Chiefs in 2008. It would become his home for 16 years.
During a 12-year playing career at Sandy Park, the fly-half was a key protagonist in the Chiefs’ odyssey from second-tier obscurity to the Premiership summit, twice lifting the title in 2017 and 2020.
He was also part of the squad that won the Champions Cup in 2020 and retired that year as the club’s all-time leading points scorer.
Having spent four years on the Chiefs’ coaching staff, Steenson is back home working as a backs coach with City of Armagh.
“This is my home club, this is where I first started playing rugby all those years ago,” he tells BBC Sport NI.
“I was a wee soccer lad but then I was brought along here when I was in primary school and that’s where I learnt the game. And to come back now after all these years, it just feels sort of right, it’s kind of coming full circle.”
As a boyhood Ulster fan who was granted the Freedom of the City of Exeter a few years ago, Steenson admits Friday’s game will be “strange” for him, like it was when he captained the Chiefs to a European Cup pool win over his home province in January 2017.
“I have a lot of friends who are going to be turning out for the Chiefs this weekend,” said Steenson, who has been a regular Sportsound contributor on Ulster matches this season.
On the 2017 game, he added: “It was probably one of the proudest nights I’ve ever had, to captain Exeter Chiefs against Ulster on a Saturday night in the Heineken Cup…albeit I never expected myself not to be wearing a white jersey that night.”
As for Friday’s game, Steenson believes Ulster and Exeter are in a “similar place” with both sides having lost all three pool games this season.
“They’re struggling for confidence, really, aren’t they?,” he said of the Chiefs.
“It’s been a difficult campaign. The group they actually have, there’s only one fellow in that squad who didn’t play in the quarter-final of Europe last year against Toulouse.
“So, as much as they talk about them learning, there’s still some experienced guys in there. The group that’ll come across here, they’ll get excited at the opportunity.
“They’ve got an opportunity this weekend to create history. Never has an Exeter Chiefs team won in a European Cup on Irish soil.”
