Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley has named an unchanged team for Saturday's Heineken Cup semi-final clash with Ulster in Dublin.
The same starting XV which toppled mighty Toulouse at Murrayfield in the quarter-finals have been given the chance to earn a place in the Twickenham showpiece.
The only switch in the 23-man squad was on the bench, where back-row Stuart McInally (hamstring) failed a fitness test, leading to a call-up for lock Steven Turnbull.
Edinburgh will take 4,000 fans to Dublin, where they will battle with Ulster for the right to play either Clermont Auvergne or defending champions Leinster, who meet on Sunday.
"The size of the occasion and the backing from fans has not been lost on the players," Bradley said. "It will be a huge test. The hype, the intensity, the crowd, and the fact that we're away from home have a bearing on the size of the challenge.
"Ulster are one of the in-form sides in Europe and will take great confidence from their two league wins over us already this season, on top of their away win over Munster in the quarter-final.
"Our form in this competition is such that we can rightly approach this match with a lot of confidence. The character and resolve of the players has been well tested in this competition and we have prevailed."
Ulster will be hoping that 13 years of hurt will finally come to an end as they look to overcome Edinburgh and return to a Heineken Cup Final stage.
It has been well over a decade since the Northern Irish side beat Colomiers at Lansdowne Road in a game that saw over 30,000 fans travel over the border. David Humphreys lifted the coveted trophy on that day after 80 minutes that saw 18 of their 21 points scored by the reliable Simon Mason.
Ulster will be without key players John Afoa (suspension) and Chris Henry (injury), with youngster Paddy Jackson starting at number ten ahead of Ian Humphreys.
Henry has been ruled out after failing to recover from an ankle sprain picked up in the PRO12 match against Leinster last weekend. Other injury concerns Paddy Wallace, Wannenburg and Paul Marshall have all been passed fit, with the latter on the bench.
"Edinburgh are one of the form teams in Europe. They beat Toulouse, one of the kingpins of the competition, and you have to respect them for that," said coach Brian McLaughlin.
"They have a great spine; their pack is full of internationals and they have an excellent back row. They have international half backs who are very good at controlling the game so it will be a big challenge for us. They are not going to fear coming to the Aviva."
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
Edinburgh: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 9 Mike Blair, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 David Denton, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sean Cox, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Phil Godman, 23 Jim Thompson.
No comments:
Post a Comment