Rugby – Team News:Ian Humphreys has recovered from a shoulder injury which kept him out of last weekend's win over the Scarlets as Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin named the outhalf in his starting XV to take on Cardiff at Ravenhill tomorrow night (kick-off 7.05pm).
Paddy Jackson won his first senior cap when he stepped in for Humphreys at Parc y Scarlets and gave a good account of himself but Humphreys’ experience and kicking ability will be a boost for Ulster.
With Paddy Wallace and Tom Court involved with the Ireland camp ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations game against Scotland, Luke Marshall and Bryan Young come at inside centre and loosehead prop respectively. Andrew Trimble was made available for Ulster and the Irish international takes his place on the right wing.
In the backrow, Willie Faloon is recalled after being rested for last week’s trip to Wales and is named at openside with Chris Henry moving to six in place of TJ Anderson who drops to the bench.
Cardiff come into the game with four consecutive wins under their belt but Ulster have won three of their four games against Welsh opponents this season.
“It’s a massive game for both teams, who have top four aspirations,” said David Young, Cardiff’s director of rugby. “Maybe it’s a tougher game for us because of the international withdrawals, as I don’t think they have as many, so it will test our squad a little bit more than them.”
“There are two very important games for us during this Six Nations period before our internationals come back but we recorded a good win against Leinster last weekend.”
“Our defence was excellent, the attack and approach was very good, but we just didn’t cross the whitewash enough.” We have got to turn those try scoring opportunities into points and make sure we keep the scoreboard ticking over.”
Ulster’s seven game losing run against Cardiff Blues ended at the Cardiff City Stadium in round eight, but McLaughlin’s side have not managed a Magners League double over the Blues since the 2005/06 season.
“I think we have been quite successful over in Ravenhill in recent years so know what it takes to win” added Young. “It’s always a place where I like going. There’s a great atmosphere, the crowd are very vocal, it’s very intense and it gets the hairs on the back of your neck on end. But there’s nothing better than coming away with a win, as very few teams do it.”
Ulster are sixth in the league standings and securing a Welsh double in the space of a week – against second-placed Cardiff - would boost their play-off aspirations.
Ulster: Adam D'Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Nevin Spence, Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy; Ian Humphreys, Ruan Pienaar, Bryan Young, Andi Kyriacou, Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller (C), Tim Barker, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg. Replacements: Nigel Brady, Paddy McAllister, Jerry Cronin, Ryan Caldwell, TJ Anderson, Paul Marshall, Ian Whitten, Tommy Seymour
Cardiff: Dan Fish, Richard Mustoe, Gavin Evan, Dafydd Hewitt, Tom James, Ceri Sweeney, Rhys Downes, Xavier Rush, Martyn Williams, Andries Pretorius, Paul Tito (C), Deiniol Jones, Scott Andrews, T Rhys Thomas, Taufa'ao Filise. Replacements: Gareth Williams, Nathan Trevett, Sam Hobbs, Ben White, Ma'ama Molitika, Tom Slater, Gareth Davies, James Loxton
