Saturday 28 April 2012

Edinburgh v Ulster - Preview


Ulster have named Paddy Jackson at fly-half for Saturday's Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh while Willie Faloon replaces injured Chris Henry.

Youngster Jackson is preferred to Ian Humphreys while John Afoa's suspension means a start for Declan Fitzpatrick.

Paul Marshall has shaken off an elbow injury and is named on the bench.

Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley names the same line-up that triumphed in the quarter-final encounter with Toulouse, with Greig Laidlaw as captain.

“We performed well as underdogs against Munster and now we are happy to be favourites”Brian McLaughlinUlster coach

The visitors' other Heineken Cup regulars Lee Jones, Nick De Luca, Matt Scott and Tim Visser also feature in the backs with Scotland's Six Nations skipper Ross Ford starting at hooker.

Ulster flanker Henry sustained his ankle injury during last Friday's Pro12 defeat by Leinster and misses out despite having undergone intensive treatment this week.

As expected, Stephen Ferris, Dan Tuohy and Rory Best all return for Brian McLaughlin's side after being rested for the Leinster game.

Ferris is a direct replacement for Henry with Faloon starting at openside flanker.

Paddy Wallace and Pedrie Wannenburg had to be withdrawn in the Leinster game but both have been passed fit to start at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland Under-20 captain Jackson produced an impressive kicking display when named at centre for the recent Pro12 game against Connacht and then performed well at number 10 against Leinster.

Ulster coach McLaughlin said that Jackson's recent displays had "warranted selection".

"It's a very tough call on Ian [Humphreys] who has been exceptional for us over the past couple of seasons but we felt Paddy deserved a shot," added the Ulster coach.

"We performed well as underdogs against Munster and now we are happy to be favourites - we mustn't let this opportunity slip away.

"Having said that, Edinburgh had a great win over Toulouse, one of the fancied teams, and they also won away in France, against Racing Metro, which is something we haven't done."

Edinburgh's form in Europe, in which they have beaten the likes of Racing Metro and Toulouse, is in stark contrast to their Pro12 form, where they have picked up just 5 wins from 21 outings.

"We've had a good week with little disturbances but I think everybody is really looking forward to the big day in Dublin," Bradley told BBC Scotland.

"We're going with a lot of confidence and the boys are playing well so it should be hopefully a very good day for Edinburgh.

"Ulster have been the form side this year and they did a very good job on Munster in the quarter-final, they started very well. So, I think that's something that we need to heed going into the match on Saturday.

"After 20 minutes, if both sides are reasonably close then that'll be a good position from us to kick on from.

"Greig Laidlaw has been stunning in terms of his percentages. It's up to us to create the majority of those opportunities.

"We've plenty of confidence in terms of what we can do on the day and that's the challenge for Edinburgh."

Ulster heave played Edinburgh in the Pro12 twice this season, with the Irish province winning 42-20 away and 38-16 at home.

Edinburgh are appearing in the semi-finals for the first time in the club's history and are also the first Scottish club to qualify for the last four.

Ulster's last appearance at this stage of the competition was on their way to winning the trophy in 1999, when they beat Stade Francais 33-27 at Ravenhill.

Ulster: Stefan Terblanche; Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Craig Gilroy; Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar; Tom Court, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick; Johann Muller (captain), Dan Tuohy; Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg.
Replacements: Nigel Brady, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Lewis Stevenson, Robbie Diack, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Adam D'Arcy.

Edinburgh: Tom Brown; Lee Jones, Nick De Luca, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Greig Laidlaw (captain), Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Grant Gilchrist, Sean Cox, David Denton, Ross Rennie, Netani Talei.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, Jack Gilding, Steven Turnbull, Roddy Grant, Chris Leck, Phil Godman, Jim Thompson.


Receive OSM news service after May 1st


No comments: