HEINEKEN CUP POOL FOUR Stade Francais v Ulster: IT CAME as no great surprise Stade Français scrumhalf Julien Dupuy was handed down a suspension of 24 weeks following an ERC disciplinary hearing yesterday. For those who haven't seen his frustration boil over to the point of gouging Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris, take a look on YouTube for all of the ugly detail.
Dupuy was cited for making contact with the eye/eye area of Ferris, who was furious after the match and carried a large, pink scrape just under his right eye.
The judicial officer found Dupuy’s offence was at the top level of seriousness for an offence of this type and suspended him until June 3rd. It means the international player will miss Stade Francais’s entire Heineken Cup campaign, all of the domestic French competitions and the Six Nations Championship.
He has the right to appeal, but even a cursory look at his behaviour would suggest the ERC have grounds to extend, not reduce, the suspension given that his contempt for Ferris was expressed in full view of the television cameras.
David Attoub, who was a replacement prop last week, was also cited for gouging, but his hearing was adjourned until January as further evidence needs to be considered. The judicial officer, however, imposed an immediate interim suspension on Attoub pending that hearing.
Today, Ulster will face an entirely different Stade Français side to the one they decidedly beat last weekend in Belfast. Coach Jaques Delmas was unafraid to make liberal use of the guillotine and has left several big names on the bench.
James Haskell, Geoffroy Messina, Ollie Phillips and Ben Kayser sit it out. Try-scorer in Ravenhill, Julien Arias, starts for Phillips, while at scrumhalf Noel Oelschig steps in for Dupuy.
There are four changes to the pack, with French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski replacing Kayser in the frontrow, Tom Palmer coming into the secondrow for Arnaud Marchois and Italian flanker Mauro Bergamasco in for Haskell in the backrow. Argentine Juan Manuel Leguizamon partners Bergamasco as he replaces openside Antoine Burban.
Brian McLaughlin, has not left Ulster untouched either. Centre Darren Cave finds himself on the bench with the return of captain Paddy Wallace at inside centre. Timoci Nagusa, who was injured last week, comes onto the wing and pushes Andrew Trimble to outside centre, forcing Cave to the replacements.
Prop BJ Botha has also recovered from injury and takes the tighthead slot, with Declan Fitzpatrick on the bench. Willie Faloon starts at openside flanker with David Pollock making way.
Ulster arrive as underdogs and will rely on another huge performance from the pack to stifle Stade’s supply of ball.
Momentum and greater confidence will be Ulster’s to bring, and Ian Humphreys will again have to play the perfect kicking game in an atmosphere that is bound to be ramped up and hostile given last week’s result.
Ulster are lucky the arrogance of the French led them to a decide to play the match away from Paris, where the intimidation would have been considerably worse than in Brussels. On such small edges they will be placing hope.
“We’ve got to match whatever Stade throw at us,” said coach Brian McLaughlin. “If we don’t do that, if we don’t compete, we know they will try and intimidate us off the park. But we wouldn’t let that happen. We know what to expect and hopefully we’ll take every opportunity we are given.
“At the moment we are looking quite good from a player point of view. Now it’s a matter of us making sure we have an attitude that is going to enable us to go across there and perform. We are ready to walk on to the field in Brussels. The team we’ve named is one that is covering every eventuality. We are happy to be going there and having the opportunity to still be in position to qualify from our pool.”
With Wallace back, Ulster will have more experience and creativity. Stade are a little stronger too, but so too is the pressure on them to win.
Ulster scored two break-away tries in Ravenhill, which is unlikely to happen again, and that puts pressure on Humphreys to kick true. It may well fall to the outhalf to again play a conservative game that allows the Ulster pack to nullify the French and stop the supply of quick ball to their runners.
If Ulster can do that and Humphreys does what he did last week, there could be another upset.
Leading point scorers: Ulster: I Humphreys 27; Stade: J Dupuy 29.
Leading try scorers: Ulster: T Nagusa 2; Stade: J Arias 2.
Results so far: Ulster: Bath (a) W 26-12; Edinburgh (h) L 13-17; Stade Francais(h) W 23-13; Stade: Bath (a) W 29-27; Edinburgh (h) W 31-7; Ulster (a) L 13-23.
Previous meetings: Five wins each.
Odds: Stade: win 2/9, handicap (-9, 10/11); Ulster win 3/1, handicap (+9, 10/11); Draw 2/9.
Verdict: Stade Francais.
