Ulster have announced the match day 23 for the vital Heineken Cup against Edinburgh on Friday night at Ravers. KO 20:00.
It’s a big woo-hoo for The FRU as, for the first time this season I believe, I actually got the starting XV correct! Scary! There were a couple of “mistakes” on the bench however: Faloon’s injury sees him replaced by TJ Anderson and the attacking option if Nagusa is preferred to the reliability of Schifcofske.
Team: (15-9) Jamie Smith, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss. (1-8) Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Dan Tuohy, Ed O’Donoghue, Stephen Ferris, David Pollock, Chris Henry (Capt). (16-23) Andy Kyriacou, Bryan Young, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, TJ Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O’Connor, Timoci Nagusa
With young Smith preferred at full back it is my reading of the selection that Ulster are opting to play a high tempo attacking game with the intention of running the Edinburgh pack off their feet, which is exactly as it should be.
The only downside to this strategy could be the weather and if it ends up wet and windy Ulster may have to change tactics and take the ball forward more often through the pack. Though Ulster have struggled with this very tactic in their last two outings against Edinburgh I think they should now have the confidence to take them on up front if required.
The latest forecast is predicting a dry start but heavy rain before the finish so it could literally be a game of two halves and with French referee Christophe Berdos in charge and primed to penalise at rucks Ulster must be on their best behaviour if they are not to be kicked out of the competition by the boot of Patterson.
At the start of the week I was predicting a comfortable win for our boys, but as the date draws closed the seeds of doubt have started to sprout, fed by a heady mix of “the jitters” and “weather worries”! A lot will depend on the toss of the coin but as the reward to risk is so much greater for Ulster that I think the boys will overcome anything that is thrown at them and will come out of the match with a comfortable win. It may be a bit hairy for a while though!
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4 Responses to “Ulster Team for Edinburgh”
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Not happy with the back replacements , Willis, O’Connor and Nagusa. None of them can play anywhere other than their starting position.
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Aye, but various starting XV backs can play well enough in other positions if required as they have done before
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Lanzaman I hope the sun is shining on you. What I ment to say is I don’t rate the replacements. I would have preferred to see Whitten and Schifcofske.
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According to Youngman Shifty is being rested for concussion.
Having said that, I’ve been very impressed with O’Connor in his brief appearances this season. His pass is a lot sharper than last year and his boot is huge giving Ulster a viable alternative at 10.
While Jim has come down from the peak he was at earlier in the season he is still the most attacking option available should we be chasing the game, or more likely chasing the bonus point!!!
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