Guinness PRO12: Ulster v Leinster
(Saturday, 3pm, Kingspan Stadium, live on Sky Sports 1)
HAVING suffered two PRO12 semi-final defeats and that Heineken Cup final reverse to Leinster in the last four years, Ulster are effectively back in knockout territory against their old rivals.
It’s an inter-provincial battle that hasn’t been particularly kind to the Ravenhill men down the years. Even in more prosperous recent times, Saturday afternoon’s hosts have won just one of the last seven meetings.
That one win was in similar circumstances to this almost exactly a year ago. Leinster came up the M1 needing victory, but tries from Iain Henderson and Craig Gilroy ultimately denied Leo Cullen’s men a top-four finish.
Ulster subsequently threw away hopes of a home semi-final with a draw against Munster and a defeat in Glasgow and paid the price against the Warriors six days later with that late DTH van der Merwe try stretching the trophyless sequence into a decade.
They have spoken all season of their desperation to end that barren spell but, as Iain Henderson alluded to earlier in the week, talk can be cheap: ”You can sit here and say time and time again you’ve learnt from last year but, until you produce the actions on the pitch… People say actions speak louder than words. I can say whatever I want in here and then we go out and lose again…” said the 24-year-old, who will again line up in the back-row on Saturday.
Sean Reidy’s selection ahead of Roger Wilson at number eight is the one minor talking point from an otherwise predictable Ulster selection for the sold-out clash. Andrew Trimble, Stuart McCloskey and Chris Henry come into the side which won 47-17 at Zebre.
Leinster come to the Kingspan with their skies brightened considerably since a listless European exit. Despite losing in Connacht at the end of March, their post-Christmas form has been strong enough to see them capitalise on their provincial rivals’ recent blip and go top of the table.
With a probable bonus-point win over Treviso on the cards in their final game next weekend and third-placed Glasgow having to travel to Connacht, their hopes of a home semi-final will remain alive regardless of Saturday afternoon.
Dave Kearney will make his 100th appearance for the province, starting on the left-wing in a side that shows nine changes from their 30-23 win over Edinburgh. Johnny Sexton starts for the first time since scoring all of his side’s 16 points against Munster four weeks ago, while Devin Toner will look to disrupt an Ulster lineout that dipped in Italy.
Ulster remain in the hunt thanks partly to the league’s unpredictable nature. Their slip-ups against the Scarlets and Glasgow went relatively unpunished - in a different campaign, they might have been looking at a dead-rubber here.
There is work aplenty to be done if Ulster are to bridge that gap to their 2006 Celtic League success. That gap hasn’t lessened the expectation in south Belfast, but director of rugby Les Kiss doesn’t mind.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel that expectation to get it done or believed that it can be done. To say anything less, I’d be underselling the ambition of what Ulster is and the ambition of the players," he said.
“Especially the players that have got two or three years left of their opportunity here. I didn’t want to come here and say, ‘give me two or three years to do something’, I wanted to come in and say, ‘let’s try and get in front of things as quick as we can and see if we can get there'.”
TEAM NEWS
Ulster: J Payne; A Trimble, L Marshall, S McCloskey, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; C Black, R Best, R Lutton; P Browne, F van der Merwe; I Henderson, C Henry, S Reidy; Replacements: R Herring, K McCall, A Warwick, R Diack, R Wilson, P Marshall, S Olding, D Cave
Leinster: R Kearney; I Nacewa, G Ringrose, B Te’o, D Kearney; J Sexton, L McGrath; J McGrath, R Strauss, T Furlong; D Toner, H Triggs; R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Heaslip; Replacements: S Cronin, P Dooley, M Ross, M Kearney, J Murphy, E Reddan, I Madigan, L Fitzgerald
