THE LEGACY of the bumps and bruises suffered by Ulster in their Heineken Cup quarter-final victory over Munster at Thomond Park was always going to invoke some collateral damage in terms of their ambition with regard to this evening’s RaboDirect Pro 12 collision with Connacht.
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin makes 12 changes to the side that started in Limerick for this interprovincial encounter. The three that remain are fullback Stefan Terblanche, outhalf Ian Humphreys and prop Tom Court, the latter switches from loosehead to tighthead to accommodate the inclusion of Paddy McAllister.
One person who might be just a tad disappointed in the visitors deciding to field such a shadow side is Ireland coach Declan Kidney. It could have proved a decent opportunity to ascertain the merit of several candidates for the upcoming three-match Test series in New Zealand.
The contest will be poorer for the absence of players like Dan Tuohy, Darren Cave and, at least initially, Craig Gilroy.
Ulster lie three points behind the second-placed Ospreys.
“The Munster match was very physical and a lot of players are still carrying bumps and bruises, so we decided it was best to give some of them a break,” said McLaughlin.
“It is crucial to look after the players with so many important games coming up before the end of the season. There are opportunities for us to test the water a bit with some of our squad players.”
Several players have been asked to display their versatility, Ian Whitten and Adam D’Arcy on the wings and Ireland U-20 outhalf Paddy Jackson in the centre. There are a number of academy players on the bench including an excellent prospect in Ireland U-20 secondrow Iain Henderson.
Connacht coach Eric Elwood has made one change to the starting team that beat the Dragons in Rodney Parade last time out. George Naoupu returns at number eight with John Muldoon moving to his more traditional role at blindside flanker.
Johnny O’Connor returns to the match squad for the first time since fracturing his eye-socket against Leinster on New Year’s Day, while Eoin Griffin is also among the replacements having recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss the game against the Dragons.
Elwood admitted: “Looking back on our last two performances we had a very good effort against Munster, just not the result we wanted. We had the same team out against the Dragons and, to be fair to the boys, they were excellent. It’s great to welcome George back for such an important game.”
Connacht’s last victory over Ulster was in 2005 but, given the respective line-ups, this evening they must be favoured to prevail.
CONNACHT: G Duffy; T O’Halloran, K Tonetti, H Fa’afili, F Vainikolo; M Nikora, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, R Loughney; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, G Naoupu. Replacements: A Flavin, D Buckley, R Ah You, M Kearney, J O’Connor, P O’Donohoe, M Jarvis, E Griffin.
ULSTER: S Terblanche; I Whitten, N Spence, P Jackson, A D’Arcy; I Humphreys, P Marshall; P McAllister, N Brady (capt), T Court; L Stevenson, N McComb; M McComish, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: A Kyriacou, C Black, A Macklin, I Henderson, A Birch, R Pienaar, C Gilroy, M Allen.
Referee: D Phillips (IRFU).
