Rugby:Ulster has been boosted by the return of a number of key players to the match day 23 for Friday's trip to play Edinburgh at Murrayfield in the PRO12 (kick off 7.30pm).
Brian McLaughlin welcomes back his international contingent, with Andrew Trimble, Stephen Ferris, Tom Court and Rory Best all returning to the starting team having missed the Inter-provincial games over the festive period.
Trimble’s return means Craig Gilroy shifts to the left wing, while Stefan Terblanche moves to fullback with Adam D’Arcy making way. Ian Whitten and Darren Cave again form the centre partnership, while Ruan Pienaar and Ian Humphreys continue as half backs.
Best and Court are included in the front row in place of Andi Kyriacou and the injured Paddy McAllister. They are joined by All Black prop John Afoa, who picked up the man of the match award in the 33-17 win over Munster last weekend.
Captain Johann Muller and Dan Tuohy once again form the second row. Stephen Ferris’ inclusion on the blindside forces Chris Henry to the openside, while Pedrie Wannenburg remains at number 8.
Paddy Wallace has returned to the squad after seven weeks on the sidelines with a thumb injury and starts on the bench.
Edinburgh has lost only one of their last seven encounters at Murrayfield, while Ulster have lost only one of their last five matches in all competitions. With Ulster just seven points adrift of fourth spot, a win would be a huge boost to their hopes of progressing to the play offs. But defeat would be damaging, a point not lost on McLaughlin:
“It’s a crucial game for us, not only in terms of the PRO12, but also with Europe in mind next week,” said the Ulster coach. “We must keep winning games in the PRO12 to put ourselves back in contention. Edinburgh have been playing well this season and like to play a good brand of rugby, but we will be looking to put in a quality performance and getting the result.”
The Ulster coach is pleased to welcome back some senior players:
“Training has been excellent all week. It’s been great having the internationals back, including Paddy (Wallace). It really gives us a boost coming into such important games and they will bring a bit extra to the team tomorrow night. They’re itching to get involved again and we are looking forward to having them back in.”
McLaughlin admits that he was faced with some tough decisions in terms of selection this week:
“Adam D’Arcy has been playing very well over the past few matches but Stefan has a bit more experience and we wanted to give him an opportunity to impress at fullback. With Andrew coming back in it gave us an opportunity to rotate a bit and make use of the strong squad we’ve assembled.”
As well as similar domestic fortunes (the clubs are placed 8th and 9th on the table), the teams currently sit top of their respective Heineken Cup Pools – a position they’ll strive to maintain when their focus turns to matters Europe the following week.
“Like us, Ulster have so far enjoyed a successful Heineken Cup campaign but have not been as convincing in the RaboDirect PRO12, though they clearly took a big step towards addressing that last weekend against Munster [beating the champions 33-17],” said Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley.
“We have shown good form in front of our home support, winning six of our last seven at Murrayfield however Ulster have lost just one in their last five so will arrive with a lot of confidence, something which we will need to tackle early on.
“This is a huge match for us as a big month for the club continues and, while we’ve acknowledged the long-term importance of our January fixtures, the players and coaches focused fully on the size of the job at hand.
“Success tomorrow would clearly give us the winning momentum we desire going into the Heineken Cup however that itself is not the objective. First and foremost this is about winning in the RaboDirect PRO12.”
Outhalf Phil Godman is the only back to retain a starting spot from last weekend’s 17-12 defeat to Glasgow Warriors, where his drop-goal secured a losing bonus-point on the stroke of full-time.
The recently honoured Chris Paterson MBE returns to start the match at full-back and is joined by incoming centres James King and Nick De Luca.
Their selection sees Jim Thompson and Matt Scott move to the bench and the injured John Houston (neck) drop from the squad.
The back-line is completed by the return of PRO12 top try-scorer Tim Visser and Tom Brown, who returns from injury (dead leg) seeking to continue his try-scoring form from the opposite wing.
In the pack the club’s all-international front-row of Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Geoff Cross are set to start. Ford’s reintroduction means Andrew Kelly drops out of the squad as young hooker Alun Walker retains his place on the bench.
Esteban Lozada and Sean Cox start in the second-row as a straight swap for Grant Gilchrist (who moves to the bench) and the injured Steven Turnbull (ankle).
There’s only one personnel change to the back-row which sees Roddy Grant replace Alan MacDonald, whose impressive display against Glasgow earned him a place on the bench ahead of Ross Rennie.
Edinburgh:Cpaterson: T Brown, N De Luca, J King, T Visser; P Godman, G Laidlaw ©; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, E Lozada, S McInally, R Grant, N Talei. Replacements – A Walker, K Traynor, J Gilding, G Gilchrist, A Mac Donald, C Leck, M Scott, J Thompson
Ulster:S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, I Whitten, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Replacements - A Kyriacou, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, P Wallace, A D'Arcy
