MAGNERS LEAGUE Ulster v Edinburgh:THE ULSTER supporters who arrive at Ravenhill this evening for their side's first home game of the season will be entitled to wonder which Ulster will stand up.
The team which defended softly and lost limply to the Dragons on the opening weekend, or the team which rolled up their sleeves, played in the Ospreys’ faces, and turned over the Welsh galacticos last week.
In making themselves look bad, Ulster succeeded in making the Dragons look very good in week one, and the kind of try that Ian Humphreys helped Simon Danielli to pick off in the Liberty Stadium was directly attributable to a notably more aggressive defence there.
They also displayed a clinically sharp cutting edge, with their elusive Fijian flyer Timoci Nagusa playing a leading role in their other two scores before a highly disciplined defence helped keep the Ospreys out in a scoreless final quarter.
Needless to say, the latter game is being taken as the benchmark both for this evening and for the rest of the season.
“We came out all guns blazing last weekend against the Ospreys, and performed very well,” reflected coach Brian McLaughlin.
“We must play like this time and time again, maintaining that level of play and driving it forward.
“Our defence was good, our set- pieces were strong, our passing was more accurate and our finishing was clinical.
“There are always areas in which we can improve, and most importantly we need to ensure there is continuity in our game week in week out.
“We know there are no easy games in professional rugby any more; they are all hard fought down to the wire.”
Consistency, consistency, consistency has been the Ulster mantra, even in pre-season, and a highly relevant example has been the stunning, 37-11 win over Munster at Thomond Park last January, or more to the point the 21-15 defeat at home to Edinburgh which followed a week later.
“We can’t afford to go out and play under par; we must be punching our weight every time we play and for the full 80 minutes,” added McLaughlin, no doubt with that example in mind.
“With every game played, we must make sure that we do both ourselves and our supporters’ justice, and this is especially important in front of our home crowd.”
McLaughlin has made only two changes, with the return of Stephen Ferris at blindside meaning captain Chris Henry moves to number eight, while Robbie Diack starts on the bench.
Neil McComb comes into the team, to replace the injured Dan Tuohy.
The backs remain the same, which means the returning Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble have to be content with places on the bench.
New Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat has made three changes to the team which thrashed Connacht last week and thereby extended their winning league run to eight matches, with wing Tim Visser, Lions hooker Ross Ford and loosehead Kyle Traynor all starting.
Games between these two have been a noted reference point in recent seasons, with Edinburgh’s defeat here in 2005 stopping a two-game winning start akin to now.
But that aforementioned win last January (their first in six visits to Belfast) was also something of a turning point under Andy Robinson which culminated in a highest ever finishing place of second.
ULSTER:C Scifcofske; T Nagusa, D Cave, I Whitten, S Danielli; I Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, A Kyriacou, B Botha, N McComb, E O'Donoghue, S Ferris, W Faloon, C Henry (capt). Replacements: N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, T Horua, R Diack, C Willis, P Wallace, A Trimble.
EDINBURGH:C Paterson; M Robertson, B Cairns, J Houston, T Visser; P Godman, G Laidlaw; K Traynor, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton, S MacLeod, A MacDonald, R Grant, A Hogg (capt). Replacements: A Kelly, A Jacobsen, S Turnbull, S Newlands, M Blair, N De Luca, S Jones.
Referee:Nigel Owens.
Forecast:Ulster to win.
