Ulster Rugby vs Bath

ROD NAWN

This afternoon promises to continue a recent trend for Ulster teams and its faithful supporters – qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. McFARLAND INSISTS ONTAKINGBATH!

Kernohan and Michael Lowry, for instance, are considered as substantial and invested part of the pool. It’s a similar case up front where it’s clear that the recent recruitment and form of props Marty Moore and Jack McGrath has stiffened the pack, and with the O’Connor brothers, Sam Carter and Kieran Treadwell vying for inclusion at lock skipper Iain Henderson has combative and increasingly athletic partners in the scrum, lineout and, most significantly, in the loose. The back row options are the envy of many, and with Marcell Coetzee at his blistering, classiest best, Sean Reidy in the form of his career, and Jordi Murphy making an increasingly persuasive case for an international recall, Ulster is the most improved and productive pack at the breakdown. Nick Timoney, Matty and Marcus Rea, Clive Ross, and Greg Jones regularly earn selection, while Andy Warwick, Eric O’Sullivan, Tom O’Toole, Ross Kane, Adam McBurney are just a few of the forwards who have been battle- hardened in the last few seasons, testament to that elusive quest for quality ‘strength in depth’. Each of these players would want to be involved this afternoon, injuries permitting, but the 23 who are selected to face Bath today will be tasked with guiding Ulster into the last eight by demonstrating to the English visitors the form which has delighted the home fans in recent months, and threatened – at times! – to effect a smile across Dan McFarland’s face! Currently mid-table in the English Premiership, but winless in five Champions Cup outings, Bath is in what its former England out-half Stuart Barnes describes as a ‘development period’. Despite a period of coaching turmoil Director of Rugby Stuart Hooper has undoubtedly some major talents at his disposal.

Last weekend may have seen defeat in Clermont, but it was a performance which provided convincing evidence that Dan McFarland has shaped a squad which is more than just competitive at the highest level. The Head Coach was clearly disappointed that some failings in the set-piece, and what he felt were some liberties taken by the French at scrum-time, denied his players capitalising on a first half display which clearly had the partisan fans at Stade Marcel Michelin fearing for the ambitions of the Top 14 giants. But McFarland must surely have been bolstered in his belief that this squad is talented, committed and organised enough to realistically view this season as potentially one which can yield tangible reward. In Europe, Harlequins succumbed twice, Bath was humbled at ‘The Rec’, while in the Guinness PRO14 few teams are scoring so prolifically and impressing in each department of the game. But all those involved with the home team will not be dwelling on anything other than the job- in-hand today at Kingspan Stadium, where the ‘Sold Out’ notices are becoming more familiar. The supporters like the rugby they are seeing - the players who go beyond cliché as a real, united team. John Cooney, Stuart McCloskey, Luke Marshall, Will Addison, Robert Baloucoune, Jacob Stockdale, Craig Gilroy, Billy Burns and Louis Ludik are just part of a battalion of backs providing the sort of competition for places the management is handling with some skill. It says much about the collective focus in the squad that Matt Faddes, Rob Lyttle, Bill Johnston, David Shanahan, James Hume, Angus

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