RUGBY/ European Cup: If you could bottle the essence of the Heineken European Cup it wouldn't be so much the sponsor's amber brew as nights like this. No less than Thomond Park on a Saturday afternoon, or treks to the Rec, Kingsholm and the Tigers' lair in Welford Road, Stradey Park or the partisan furnaces in the south of France, a packed Friday night in Ravenhill is right up there, especially when leading English or French teams visit.
Ulster haven't reached the quarter-finals since their 1999 triumph but have been unbeaten at Ravenhill in this competition, winning a dozen ties in succession since, as it happens, Saracens were last here in the concluding pool game in 2000-01. Plenty of front-line Premiership opposition have succumbed in front of a 12,500 capacity crowd and a limited if pack-orientated, David Humphreys-inspired, incessant pressure game; be they Wasps, Saints, Tigers or Cherry & Whites, not to mention the French aristocracy. And yet, come kick-off, as Mark McCall admits: "I don't think it counts for an awful lot in real terms, although the crowd at Ravenhill have been absolutely brilliant and when they get behind us like they do it can us a huge lift.
"The main criticism of Ulster was that we found it virtually impossible to win away but we've won four of our five away games in the Celtic League, and against some significant opposition."
The most recent of those, their win in Cork to end Munster's 18-match unbeaten home run in all competitions, couldn't have been more timely after the November international hiatus, which interrupted their impressive early-season momentum.
They've emerged unscathed and unchanged from that victory, which underlined the point that this is the best Ulster team in six years. The emergence of Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble has given them a youthful vibrancy and cutting edge they've often lacked in that time.
The forecast suggests another rainy night under the lights in Ravenhill, which shouldn't faze Saracens. When they removed Rod Kafer last season and replaced him with Steve Diamond, the former Sale hooker went very much back to basics and a much-improved sequence of results saw them qualify via the much-criticised and unlamented wild-card route.
With the brute strength of Cobus Visagie and Kevin Yates at prop either side of Shane Byrne, ex Fijian captain Simon Raiwalui, and the rangy, ball-carrying, drop-goal-kicking Hugh Vyvyan at number eight, Saracens have the type of gargantuan pack to apply unremitting pressure to opponents' set-pieces, and take them on with an attacking scrum, lineout maul and plenty of one-off runners.
With Mike Ford now on board full-time (his IRFU contract officially ended last week) Saracens briefly changed tack this season, but three defeats in their opening five games saw Diamond and Ford signal a return to what they do best, and a seven-match unbeaten run came to an end at Kingsholm before they fielded a second team last weekend in a Powergen Cup defeat at Wasps.
They make 13 changes to that starting line-up, although a surfeit of injuries to the back five obliges them to name two hookers on the bench. Glen Jackson, the former Bay of Plenty player, is essentially a kicking outhalf and what spark there is usually comes from Thomas Castaignede, all the more so if in midfield.
McCall believes that "whatever the conditions, even if it turns into a big physical battle and a bit of a dogfight, if we're going to be successful we've got to be able to adapt and I've no doubt we can. And if it comes to it, we've as good an outhalf as any in the world to play to those conditions."
McCall reckons that Humphreys, at 34 and rejuvenated by Ulster's new generation, is playing as well as ever. Ultimately though, Justin Harrison and the rest of the pack are really going to have to earn their corn this evening. As McCall says: "We've got to get a platform, and if we do we have a great chance."
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs, A Trimble, P Steinmetz; D Humphreys, K Campbell; B Young, R Best, S Best (capt); J Harrison, M McCullough; N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacements: N Brady, R Moore, R Caldwell, S Ferris, I Boss, A Larkin, J Topping.
SARACENS: D Scarbrough; P Bailey, T Castaignede, K Sorrell, T Vaikona; G Jackson, K Bracken; K Yates, S Byrne, C Visagie; S Raiwalui, K Chesney; H Vyvyan (capt), B T Russell, B Skirving. Replacements: A Kyriacou, B Broster, M Cairns, D Seymour, A Dickens, M Bartholomeusz, B J Russell.
Referee: Eric Darriere (France)
Previous meetings: (2000-01) Saracens 55 Ulster 25; Ulster 13 Saracens 21.
Results so far: Ulster - 27-0 v Treviso (h); 19-33 v Biarritz (a). Saracens - 22-10 v Biarritz (h); 30-17 v Treviso (a). Leading try scorers: Ulster - Neil Best 2. Saracens - Hugh Vyvyan 2.
Leading points scorers: Ulster - David Humphreys 16. Glen Jackson 29.
Odds (Paddy Power): Ulster 2/5, Draw 20/1, Saracens 7/4. Handicap odds 10/11 Ulster, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Saracens (+6pts)
Forecast: Ulster to win.
