RUGBY/Leinster v Ulster:Now, finally as it were, this is it, The Last Stand, ie the final, final farewell to Lansdowne Road as we've come to know it, love it and loathe it. So, 130 years on Leinster host Ulster in a reprise of the very first game at the ground, on December 16th, 1876, in what will be more than just a Magners Celtic League game tomorrow. A record crowd for the competition, perhaps a capacity 48,000, will also constitute a fitting finale to both Lansdowne Road and an epic year for Irish rugby, 2006.
"I never expected to be involved in a situation like this," commented Leinster coach Michael Cheika yesterday, "even to be associated with this team from where I've come from. But the game's not about me, it's about the players and the crowd in particular because for that many people to want to be a part of it, I think it's a great tribute to what's happening in rugby in Ireland, the way the game is being played. The game here is played with passion and ferocity and an ever-improving skill base . . . They're a lucky bunch of players to be involved because I think it will be a great atmosphere."
The thought of a sell-out at an "interpro" would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, and is testimony to the astonishing growth and success of rugby in Ireland as well as a marketing coup for the Leinster Branch. You sense there might be a few first-timers as well as last-timers among the curious throngs and they'll be expecting some Barbarian-style rugby from Leinster's galacticos.
In the absence of one of them, Girvan Dempsey, the 22-year-old UCD fullback Ross McCarron has been included in a 25-man squad with the fit-again Will Green and Reggie Corrigan. Green may go straight into the starting line-up and while Cheika can move Denis Hickie to fullback or play McCarron there, the likelihood is the out-of-form Robert Kearney will be afforded another opportunity.
All the soundings indicate Felipe Contepomi's gradual recovery will be continued from the bench, which means another investment in young Jeremy Sexton. The return of Chris Whitaker appears a pre-ordained festive rotation at scrumhalf in an otherwise unchanged side.
Save for the injured Stephen Ferris, Mark McCall looks as if he will be able to name a full-strength side. Hence, the Ulster coach will probably start the seven players who appeared from the bench in Tuesday's win over Connacht.
No less than Malcolm O'Kelly and other veterans on show, it is sure to be David Humphreys' last game at the old ground among others. It is, of course, the scene of some of Humphreys' finest hours, not least when Ulster lifted the European Cup here in January 1999.
Although Donnybrook was seen as Leinster's more spiritual, intimate home and more of a fortress, they have won their last eight league games at Lansdowne Road, including the 2001 final. Another Leinster win would not only benefit themselves but also the pack chasing Ulster. Leinster sit third, seven points adrift of the defending champions, but their 6-6 draw in Ravenhill earlier this month gives them a chance to eat into that leeway. They will need to impose their game, as they did against Munster here en route to victory, and be clinical out wide.
Ulster remain as much an acid test. A confident table-topping team, their set-pieces are invariably sound, their backrow carry, clear out and counter-ruck efficiently, they play off a variety of set moves which ably employ their strike runners on the wing, Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe, through the middle and they finish games strongly.
Ulster may not scale the same heights as Leinster, but nor do they plummet the same depths, and they undoubtedly have the more experienced game manager and goal-kicker in Humphreys. But you sense Leinster should be inspired by the occasion and Brian O'Driscoll and his fellow game-breakers in the three-quarterline will be desperate to varnish the occasion fittingly.
LEINSTER (possible): R Kearney; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; J Sexton, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Jackman, W Green, T Hogan, M O'Kelly, S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements (from): R Corrigan/S Wright, H Vermass, O Finegan, C Jowitt, G Easterby, F Contepomi/A Dunne, K Lewis/R McCarron.
ULSTER (possible): B Cunningham; T Bowe, P Steinmetz, P Wallace, A Trimble; D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Best, S Best (capt), J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson. Replacements: J Fitzpatrick, P Shields, T Barker, N McMillan, K Campbell, K Maggs, M Bartholomeuz.
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU).
Overall head-to-head (competitive meetings only): Played 63, Leinster 32 wins, 5 draws, Ulster 26 wins.
Last five meetings: (04-05) Ulster 15 Leinster 26, Leinster 9 Ulster 8; (05-06) Leinster 30 Ulster 23, Ulster 19 Leinster 24; (06-07) Ulster 6 Leinster 6.
Five-game formguide: Leinster - W D W W L. Ulster - W D L W W.
Leading points scorers: Leinster - Felipe Contepomi 80. Ulster - David Humphreys 114.
Leading try scorers: Leinster - Denis Hickie 4. Ulster - Bryn Cunningham, Paul Steinmetz 4 each, Tommy Bowe 3.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
