Match Preview - Luck of the Irish


By Ed Scott
December 9 2010

This week we say (a less than fond) goodbye to the Aviva Premiership and return to the Heineken Cup. What better way to begin than with a lovely trip to Belfast to warm the cockles and gently ease us back into the competition! This is of course the first leg of our back to back games against Ulster.

A trip to Ravenhill is definitely one of the harder away games in this competition. Taking away pre-season, they have only lost once at home this year (to Munster) and re-start their European campaign after successive away wins over Cardiff and Benetton Treviso. I think we can all agree that the match will be quite a different affair to our victory in August.
 
For Ulster, Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble are constant a threat in the backs with Ian Humphreys highly effective at controlling the game from fly-half. In the pack they are abrasive with canny operators such as Rory Best and BJ Botha highly prevalent. I expect nothing less than a highly vocal crowd and Ulster to throw the kitchen sink at us.
 
This pool stands a good chance of supplying two teams for the Quarter Finals of the competition. Biarritz are clearly in the driving seat at this stage, but if either Ulster or Bath can win 3 of their final 4 games, then a couple of bonus points on top would probably be enough to claim one of the 'fastest finisher' spots. Essentially this makes Saturday a must win game for both teams. More important for us as one of our remaining games is Biarritz away, a game that even the most optimistic would view as unlikely to produce a tick in the W column.
 
The board has been dominated this week by the news that Luke Watson will not be staying with the club after the end of the season. Naturally, upsetting times for us all, but I think that the 5 page thread is enough discussion for now! All I will say is that I know he will continue to wear his heart on his sleeve and put in 100% for us every time he pulls on the shirt.
 
Without a settled line up, team selection is again a hot topic. I believe that it is still too early for Butch or Luke to be involved, but we should see the return of our England quartet to give the squad a much needed boost. The likely choice will be to have Moody, Taylor and Beattie/Skirving in the back row. Mercer deserves his shirt though so I would love to see him at 7 and Moody at 6. In the backs I can't see any reason why Olly shouldn't move to fly-half to accommodate Hape at 12 (who really was superb in the AIs) and Banners at 13. We need our best players on the pitch, simple as. If it means Olly isn't too chuffed about playing at 10, then so be it. I thought his performance there against Cardiff was superb and Vesty just isn't quite cutting it at the moment for me. If Olly wants back in the England fold he needs to also show versatility as well as form, so a few games there should not be a problem.
 
Make no bones about it, this Saturday is going to be tough, but certainly not impossible. At times we are still playing some great stuff but lack the consistency or intensity to make those moments tell. The week off should have helped players to re-cooperate and feel fresh for battle. OK, current form isn't on our side, but you never know. Now, where did I put that four leaved clover...........

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Match Preview - Luck of the Irish
Discussion started by BathRugbyEre.co.uk , 09/12/2010 18:37
BathRugbyEre.co.uk
09/12/2010 18:37
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:12:11:19:26:21 by Susanne.

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rally
09/12/2010 20:04
Hoping for better memories than last time round and better discipline. IIRC, A red card home and away last season.

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Rooster15
10/12/2010 12:02
Best is out for a couple of months with a broken cheek sustained in one of the Autumn Internationals
Team
Ulster (15-9) Adam D'Arcy; Andrew Trimble, Nevin Spence, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli; Ian Humphreys, Ruan Pienaar (1-8) Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Johann Muller (captain), Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg

Replacements (16-23) Andi Kyriacou, Paddy McAllister, Bryan Young, Tim Barker, Willie Faloon, Paul Marshall, Ian Whitten, David McIlwaine

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