Ulster captain Rory Best has signed a new two year contract with the Irish club that will keep him on the Ravenhill turf until June 2010.
The international hooker (17 caps with Ireland), made his debut with Ulster in the 2004/05 season. He has won 15 caps in the Heineken Cup and scored two tries in the tournament. This season Best took over the captaincy of the 1999 Heineken Cup winners.
Ulster Rugby Chief Executive Michael Reid said: "We are delighted that Rory has agreed a new deal with Ulster Rugby. He's matured tremendously as a player and as an individual in recent years.
"While there's no doubting that this season so far has presented a huge challenge for him, both in terms of Ireland's disappointment at the World Cup, and his brother Simon's illness as well as Ulster's loss form, he's never shirked any of his responsibilities as a captain, or as a team player and in many ways embodies what playing for the red hand means."
Fourth in Pool 2, Ulster will play away to Ospreys this weekend in Round 3 of the Heineken Cup.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Friday, 7 December, at 8.00 pm.
You can also get all the scores live online with ercrugby.com's matchday tracker.
