After a stint at London Irish, Herring went back to his native Cape Town and admits signing for Ulster back in 2012 was a bit of a step into the unknown. “I didn't know too much about Ulster, it was one of those when the first contract came through and it was in pounds and I was like, why isn’t it in Euros?” said Herring. "But, yeah, obviously, as soon as I knew I was coming, I did a bit of research and, you know, I've obviously been trying to learn a lot about the culture since I've been here, and we really enjoy it here – my kids were born here – so, we're really settled. “It was a big decision to come over. I didn't really know where it would go but David Humphreys kind of gave me an option to do a trial instead of a two-year deal, and I took that and then really enjoyed it when I came and never looked back. “It was big because I'd done two years in London straight out of school, and when I went back, I was playing for Western Providence in the 21s and I'd just started studying, and I was happy being back in South Africa. “I didn't ever think this (would happen) as a young boy, I just wanted to come over here chasing a dream and just never look back.” Herring feels after 13 years and 249 appearances he’s fully immersed in the Ulster way. “It's been a long time with this club and there's been guys ahead of me that kind of showed me what it means to represent the province, and especially when I was a young lad,” he added. “There were some good guys in the team who showed me the way, and, you know, I'm just trying to embody that still, show the young lads currently what it means and how much it means to me to play. “So, every time I take the pitch, that's what I'm trying to do.” Herring puts his longevity down to good fortune. “I don't have any magic tricks. I have been a little bit lucky with long-term injuries – I've only had a few – but, you know, I like to think I took an approach at a pretty young age to be disciplined in what I do and I take my recovery and my training seriously. “That's also something I'm probably trying to get over to the young lads at the moment, is showing them the way in that… a little bit of discipline goes a long way in how you prepare and how you keep your body right and stuff.” Bordeaux are top seeds in The Champions Cup while Ulster are bottom, but Herring feels that won’t count for much in a knockout game. “We’re going to Bordeaux to win – there's no let's see how it goes. It's knockout rugby and, yes, they're a quality team, but we've got to go and try to put our best performance forward and see where it sits us, but, looking forward to it,” Herring said. “I think probably in the last few (games), like the last month or two, we're starting to show signs of improvement in areas that we've been going after and it felt different at the weekend (against Stormers). “I know, obviously, we didn't start great but even in that, like behind the posts, I think there was a bit of a change of mentality and it's good to see.” Ulster: M Lowry; Z Ward, J Hume, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; J Murphy, J Cooney; A Warwick, R Herring, T O'Toole; A O'Connor (capt), K Treadwell; J McNabney, N Timoney, D McCann Replacements: T Stewart, C Reid, S Wilson, M Dalton, Matty Rea, N Doak, A Morgan, S Moore.