Ulster Rugby vs Toulouse

ARTICLE BY RICHARD MULLIGAN SPORTS EDITOR & RUGBY CORRESPONDENT, NEWS LETTER @R_MULLIGAN1

CLUB REVIEW

CLUB REVIEW

With many of the leagues in the All Ireland and Ulster domestic club scene nearing the halfway stage, News Letter sports editor and rugby correspondent, Richard Mulligan, takes a look at the state of play and what to expect by the end of the season…

and this will be their third final appearance on the trot and hoping to repeat last year’s success when they were victorious over Malone. The cup this season has been a comfort zone for the County Down club, whose All Ireland League form has been poor, winning their first game of the season in Ulster Bank Division 1A last weekend after eight straight losses. Thursday night’s final will be a nice diversion for Derek Suffern and his troops as their focus will return to avoiding relegation in their AIL league section come the New Year. Ballymena’s form has been the opposite. They are flying high in Ulster Bank Division 1B, currently lying in second place after just one loss in the first half of fixtures and pressing hard for promotion. Andy Graham, the players and the club are to be praised for the way they have turned things around after a few barren seasons and they will be out to prove a point on Thursday night as well as look to repeat their Senior Cup successes in 2012 and 2013 when they lifted the famous trophy. Staying on the senior scene, it is fantastic to be reporting on strong showings by Ulster clubs in the revamped All Ireland League. Banbridge and Malone have enjoyed fine runs in Ulster Bank Division 2A and currently hold the top two places respectively and making a strong case for promotion. A good run in the second half of the season, which incidentally starts for them tomorrow, will hopefully see both go on to take promotion. In Division 2B, City of Derry lead the way - six points ahead of the nearest contenders and with a game in hand. Terry McMaster has done a solid job since taking over as coach and while it is only the midway stage, it would be hoped they can maintain their current form and go on and secure promotion. Armagh are just shy of the leaders presently in fourth place, but they cannot be discounted from being right in the mix come April.

Domestic rugby takes centre stage at Kingspan Stadium in the coming week with two of this season’s showpiece finals in senior and junior rugby taking place. The Millar McCall Wylie Ulster Junior Cup final between Instonians and Bangor on Tuesday (December 15) promises to serve up a real pre Christmas cracker between arguably two of the best sides on the junior scene. Instonians are the current Kukri Qualifying League One champions and defeated Omagh Accies in last year’s final. They are currently lying second in the table to Bangor in Kukri One. Bangor reached last year’s All Ireland Junior Cup final before losing to Dundalk, the club from Leinster who went on to see off Inst during the round-robin play-offs, and they have been making strong progress in recent seasons, reflected in the fact they currently lead the way in Kukri One. Key to Tuesday’s game will be how both clubs come through this Saturday’s All Ireland Junior Cup semi-finals. Instonians entertain Clogher Valley while Bangor go to Leinster side, Enniscorthy and it would be fantastic if the Seasiders were to secure a victory there and set up an all Ulster final, reflecting the dominance of Ulster clubs in this competition in recent years. Anyone who is free on Tuesday night should make the trip to Kingspan Stadium to see what will be a quality Junior Cup final and reflect all that is good about the current junior game in Ulster. On Thursday night (December 17th) the First Trust Senior Cup brings two great country clubs together when Ballymena and Ballynahinch lock horns in the blue riband event for senior sides. The sea of change in the land of Ulster club rugby has seen Ballynahinch rise to the top in recent years, reflected in their success in the Senior Cup

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