PRO12: Ulster 8 Leinster 16 Match Centre

Ulster have recalled a number of front line players to the starting XV for Friday’s RaboDirect PRO12 match against Leinster at Ravenhill (kick off 7.05pm).

Head Coach Brian McLaughlin has made nine personnel changes and a further two positional switches to the team which lost 26-21 to Connacht last weekend, but there is no place for rested Ireland Internationals Stephen Ferris and Rory Best.

Willie Faloon, Nigel Brady, Lewis Stevenson, Tom Court, Stefan Terblanche and Paddy Jackson are the only survivors from the team which started in Galway.

Jackson has moved from inside centre to outhalf in place of Ian Humphreys, with Paddy Wallace occupying the vacated spot in midfield alongside regular partner Darren Cave. Ruan Pienaar and Andrew Trimble also return to the starting backline.

Up front, Court is named in his more familiar loosehead prop position, after starting in the tighthead role at the Sportsground. Declan Fitzpatrick will wear the number 3 jersey after making a welcome return from a neck injury – his first taste of action in almost five months.

Johann Muller has returned to captain the side from second row where he is partnered by Stevenson, while Pedrie Wannenburg and Chris Henry are recalled to the back row alongside Faloon.

Paddy McAllister, Neil McComb, Robbie Diack, Ian Humphreys and Adam D’Arcy all drop to the bench after starting last week. Adam Macklin remains among the replacements as front row cover, while Ian Porter makes a return to the match day squad with fellow scrumhalf Paul Marshall ruled out with an elbow injury sustained against Connacht.

ULSTER: Stefan Terblanche, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Craig Gilroy, Patrick Jackson, Ruan Pienaar,  Tom Court, Nigel Brady, Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller (capt), Lewis Stevenson, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg. REPLACEMENTS. Andi Kyricaou, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Neil McComb, Robbie Diack, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Adam D’Arcy

Unavailable: Jared Payne (Achilles), Simon Danielli (hamstring), Tim Barker (back), Chris Coachrane (foot), Paul Marshall (elbow).

LEINSTER: Rob Kearney, David Kearney, Brian O’Driscoll, Fergus McFadden, Luke Fitzgerald, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen (capt), Brad Thorn, Kevin McLaughlin, Dominic Ryan, Sean O’Brien. REPLACEMENTS: Sean Cronin, Heinke van der Merwe, Nathan White, Devin Toner, Shane Jennings, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Fionn Carr

Interesting that young Jackson gets a start in what would be regarded as the first string back line. Surely he’s not going to make a late bid for a European Cup spot next week? He certainly has it all to play for in this match against Leinster but I would speculate that his selection is to give Humphreys more time to recover from all the knocks he took last week against Connacht, so there is a fair chance Jackson might see out the bulk of the game.

Others deemed worthy of an extended rest are Ferris, Tuohy and Best with Faloon, Stevenson and Brady stepping up to the mark respectively in what looks like a fairly strong pack though how long Fitzpatrick lasts at tight head is anyone’s guess. There couldn’t be a bigger carrot dangled in front of the unlucky and somewhat injury prone prop but if he can hold himself together for the next two games he has every chance of joining the ranks of Ulster legends if he can shore up the right hand side of the scrum!

In fact the scrum could be very tasty if Court gets his gander up. What seems to have been overlooked by many following the England game fiasco was how quickly Ross scuttled off the field claiming a minor injury when the going got tough so I would assume he is the man to target. Turning the tables would be a big boost for Court and Ulster.

Leinster are as strong as they can get, the only obvious weaknesses being David Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald, so it will be interesting to see how Trimble and Gilroy stack up against them if they get enough ball.

McLaughlin/Humphreys are obviously holding something back from the Ulster selection in the expectation that they will meet Leinster in the final of the Heineken Cup, so I would guess they would be happy enough to cough this game up in the hope for bigger things.

I reckon this wil be fairly similar to the meeting earlier in the season, a bit of a tonking after an early ‘valiant’ effort.

As the pressure rises towards the business end of the season it’s pleasing to see that Ulster are quickly becoming one of the form teams. But for a couple of poor management decisions and an appalling display against Treviso at home Ulster, and McLaughlin, would be ending the season with a home play off in the PRO12 and a likely Heineken Cup Final.

Unfortunately McLaughlin/Humphreys decision to send the Ravens down to the RDS over Christmas and the selection of  an understrength side for the Sportsground last week, added to the horrendous performance against Treviso, have denied Ulster a PRO12 play off place, but there are signs that Ulster are hitting their straps at just the right time for Heineken Cup glory.

Having beaten, the self proclaimed, best team in the world in Limerick a couple of weeks ago and after pushing the actual best team in Europe very close last night, without Best, Ferris, Afoa and Tuohy I may add, Ulster can look forward to the rest of the Heineken Cup campaign with a fair degree of confidence.

However, things didn’t start to well for Ulster at Ravenhill last night finding themselves seven points down in as many minutes thanks to a try from Kevin McLaughlin with Leinster looking sharp early on.

Ulster refused to be intimidated and worked their way back into the game after the first quarter and hit back with a try from Muller, on the 25th minute, after good work by Paddy Wallace. Pienaar, having an off night with the boot, missed the conversion leaving the score 5 – 7.

By this time Robbie Diack was on for the injured Chris Henry and the big South African was having his game of the season, smashing into the Leinster defence with the power and pace that has been disappointingly lacking in his previous outings.  On top of this young Patrick Jackson was growing into the game, playing on the advantage line and adding a harder edge in defence with a performance that is going to give McLaughlin/Humphreys something to think about for next week’s selection.

It was Leinster who scored next however with Sexton slotting over a penalty to give the visitors a 5 – 10 lead but, despite losing Paddy Wallace to a knock, Ulster hit back on the 38th minute with Pienaar’s only successful kick of the night and despite Ulster edging the second quarter it was Leinster who were more clinical with Sexton slotting over another penalty on the stroke of half time to give the visitors a somewhat fortunate 8 – 13 lead at the break.

As the rain petered out at half time so did the game. Ulster lost Wannenburg ten minutes into the second half and, with an eye on next weeks fixtures, both sides swapped out their benches shortly after.

The game maintained a good degree of intensity despite the changes but both defences were on top, with a Sexton drop kick the only score of the second half.

By that stage most of the thoughts of the crowd had turned to the Heineken Cup, with Ulster’s chances of a PRO12 play off position all but gone, and, as the final whistle blew, both sets of supporters wished each other all the best for future matches and the shared hope that both will meet up again in Twickenham in a months time.

If they do, and it’s still a big if, I rather fancy Ulster’s chances.

ULSTER: Stefan Terblanche, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Craig Gilroy, Patrick Jackson, Ruan Pienaar,  Tom Court, Nigel Brady, Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller (capt), Lewis Stevenson, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg. REPLACEMENTS. Andi Kyricaou, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Neil McComb, Robbie Diack, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Adam D’Arcy

LEINSTER: Rob Kearney, David Kearney, Brian O’Driscoll, Fergus McFadden, Luke Fitzgerald, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen (capt), Brad Thorn, Kevin McLaughlin, Dominic Ryan, Sean O’Brien. REPLACEMENTS: Sean Cronin, Heinke van der Merwe, Nathan White, Devin Toner, Shane Jennings, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Fionn Carr.

No post match reaction form Ulster Rugby as yet. Either they were too emotional with last nights game being the last game at Ravenhill for Wannenburg, Terblanche, Faloon, Kyriacou and, of course, McLaughlin or they were all too busy out partying with Rory McIlroy!

Either way, this was a good performance by Ulster, sure there were some mistakes and we gave away some silly penalties and fluffed a couple of crucial line outs but given the calibre of our opponents I have to say that the pros far outweighed the cons.

With Pienaar having an uncharacteristic off night with the boot Ulster left 11 points on the park, with two missed penalties, a conversion and a penalty chance spurned at the end,  so we certainly had our chances to win and when you consider that Ulster were without Best, Ferris, Afoa and Tuohy you would have to fancy our chances should these sides meet again in the final, provided of course we can field our first string.

The most pleasing aspect of last nights game was the way a couple of players grasped their slender chance for Heineken Cup inclusion, with Robbie Diack and Patrick Jackson particularly impressive. Daick played they game we have all been waiting for, adding a hard edge to his undoubted portfolio of skills, and, despite playing only 30 minutes, the big back row ended up comfortably Ulster’s most prolific ball carrier, by a stretch.

Young Jackson displayed some delightful touches, including a monster clearance kick in the closing minutes, and his defence was rock solid as he proceeded to knock over seasoned pros at every opportunity in an impressive display.

I doubt if both have done enough to claim a starting position next week but they should feature in the match day squad.

One person who did do enough to start was Declan Fitzpatrick as both he and Court coped rather comfortably with the much vaunted Ireland props. Court definitely has the potential to destroy the vastly overrated Ross and, considering that this was Fitzpatrick’s first game for four months he coped rather comfortably with Healy. If Fitzpatrick could stay injury free, and introduce a degree of athleticism to his game, he could find himself fast tracked into the Ireland touring squad this summer.

To summarise, a disappointing result but not a bad performance! Roll on Saturday!

That looks like it for Ulster in the PRO12. As it stands we now need to beat Munster in Thomond with a try bonus point plu the Westies have to turn over Glasgow a Firhill.

Mind you the Westies have come to our aid before this season so you never know. It would be a shame not to put four past Munster just in case!

Week 21 Results
Fri 20 Apr	19:05	Ospreys	31 – 12	Dragons	Liberty Stadium
Fri 20 Apr	19:05	Ulster	8 – 16	Leinster	Ravenhill
Sat 21 Apr	17:00	Connacht	19 – 16	Aironi	Sportsground
Sat 21 Apr	18:30	Scarlets	20 – 20	Munster	Parc y Scarlets
Sun 22 Apr	14:05	Blues	38 – 13	Edinburgh	Cardiff City Stadium
Sun 22 Apr	15:05	Treviso	8 – 13	Warriors	Stadio di Monigo

 

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Leinster Rugby	21	17	1	3	546	308	238	47	26	5	2	77
2	Ospreys	21	15	1	5	473	326	147	42	21	2	3	67
3	Munster Rugby	21	13	1	7	453	359	94	40	26	4	4	62
4	Glasgow Warriors	21	12	4	5	421	318	103	32	23	2	3	61
5	Scarlets	21	11	2	8	417	353	64	39	27	4	5	57
6	Ulster Rugby	21	12	0	9	466	388	78	52	36	5	3	56
7	Cardiff Blues	21	10	0	11	426	431	-5	40	41	5	5	50
8	Connacht Rugby	21	7	1	13	318	409	-91	27	34	0	7	37
9	Benetton Treviso	21	7	0	14	398	514	-116	38	52	3	5	36
10	Newport Gwent Dragons	21	7	1	13	352	452	-100	25	40	1	4	35
11	Edinburgh Rugby	21	5	1	15	410	567	-157	37	62	1	4	27
12	Aironi Rugby	21	4	0	17	278	533	-255	21	52	1	4	21

 

 

Key Fixtures Week 22
Sat 5 May	19:30	Warriors	v	Connacht	Firhill Stadium
Sat 5 May	19:30	Munster	v	Ulster	Thomond Park Stadium
Sat 5 May	19:30	Scarlets	v	Blues	Parc y Scarlets

Thanks again to Henry at the UAFC for the match video.

Pictures from last nights game.