My goodness, we got a couple wrong in our team prediction for Ulster’s match against table topping Edinburgh but the only differences are very close calls and hopefully will not weaken the team in any way.
The only slight bugbear I have is the selection of Nagusa on the left wing ahead of Trimble as I still think Jimmy’s positional defensive work needs to improve but with Trimble only joining the squad yesterday it is better to go with someone who has been training with the match squad all week.
Ferris’ automatic inclusion flies in the face of this but I would hazard a guess that there has been some commercial pressure brought to bear in this instance and the try scoring Lion has been itching for a run out since his tour was cut short. It’s a big boost to captain courageous Chris Henry that it’s the on form Diack that makes way but Ferris should be able to replace any ball carrying skills that we lose with Diack dropping down to the bench.
Two other surprises, well to me anyway, are the inclusion on the bench of Declan Fitzpatrick at the expense of the returning Court and Anderson dropping out of the squad all together with Houra being retained on the bench. Again, it appears to be mixed messages with Court being made to fight for his place against Fitzpatrick who has featured strongly in each of his appearances this year and Anderson, who has also performed very well, can count himself unlucky that the coach has chosen to give, the unknown quantity, Houra the possibility of more game time.
The good thing is though that all McLaughlin’s decisions can be easily justified as for the greater good of Ulster, even if it means disappointment for the individual. Ferris had to start to bring the crowds in and Diack is unfortunate that it’s his ball carrying ability that Ferris will be expected to replace. Houra needs to get up to speed with the style of play up here as at the very least he will be needed in November and February/March whereas Anderson has time on his side and will get plenty more opportunities in the season ahead. Fitzpatrick and Nagusa deserve to keep their places in the squad with their impact in the games to date.
If second row Neil McComb, making his senior debut, can build on his performance against Viadana in the pre season the competition in the second row is going to be equally enthralling throughout the season. With our now surprisingly deep squad, I look forward to plenty more of these close calls throughout the season.
The FRU predicts, for the second week in succession, a bonus point win for Ulster. It will be close for the first 60 minutes but Ulster will pull away in the last twenty to the delight of the crowd. Brianc and Youngman will be spotted cavorting shamelessly in the new stand when Ulster score their bonus point try in the 79th minute.
Teams.
Ulster: C Schifcofske; T Nagusa, D Cave, I Whitten, S Danielli; I Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, A Kyriacou, BJ Botha, N McComb, E O’Donoghue, S Ferris, W Faloon, C Henry(capt.).
Replacements: N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, T Horua, R Diack, C Willis, P Wallace, A Trimble.
Edinburgh: Chris Paterson, Mark Robertson, Ben Cairns, John Houston, Tim Visser; Phil Godman, Greig Laidlaw; Kyle Traynor, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Craig Hamilton, Scott MacLeod, Alan MacDonald, Roddy Grant, Allister Hogg (capt.).
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Allan Jacobsen, Steve Turnbull, Scott Newlands, Mike Blair, Steve Jones, Nick De Luca.
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