MAGNERS LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Ulster -ULSTER COACH Matt Williams said this week, "It's not about me, it's about the boys." Well, Edinburgh might see it differently as Ulster make the short trek across to the Scottish capital to meet a home side that lines out with 10 internationals. That is 10 without place-kicker Chris Paterson.
Williams' time in Edinburgh as the Scotland national coach may not have ended in the way he would have liked, but the Australian arrives with a side that has improved impressively since the beginning of the season - and largely with the same personnel.
More recently the side has also demonstrated an ability to win away from Belfast and as if to hammer that point home, it was Munster that felt the brunt of a rampant Ulster at Thomond Park. That had been a big problem for the province and the Munster win should go some distance towards exorcising their fear of taking scalps outside of Ravenhill Road.
Williams has made four changes to the side that took the bonus win from Limerick last Saturday. Mark McCrea has replaced Timoci Nagusa, who is recovering from injury, while David Pollack has been promoted to the starting side in place of last week's captain Kieron Dawson, who moves to the bench. Captain Rory Best is back in at hooker, with Nigel Brady, who replaced Best last week, dropping to the bench.
"Edinburgh are a powerful team of great professionals," added Williams. "We will give them the respect they deserve.
"The bad news for the opposition is there were so many aspects of our game I wasn't happy with on Saturday night. We can improve a lot in three or four areas, tactically and technically. If we can win it's incredible how close to the top of the table we can come. So we are going to give it a go."
Ulster are one point behind Edinburgh heading into today's meeting and the last time the two teams met in October, Ulster won 13-9.
Edinburgh are led by Mike Blair and are handing young flanker Roddy Grant his first Magners League start. The 21-year-old National Academy player replaces Alan McDonald at openside after McDonald was ruled out through injury. The Botswana-born Grant recently captained the Scotland sevens side in Dubai.
The match also marks a first start of the season for club captain Simon Cross, who will play alongside Grant and number eight Allister Hogg in a new-look backrow.
"I'm delighted to be back playing again and grateful for the opportunity," Cross said. "We are looking to bounce back after the disappointing result at Glasgow last week."
Following their narrow defeat at Glasgow, Andrew Turnbull takes over the number 14 jersey in the absence of injured winger Mark Robertson (groin), while Nick De Luca is replaced by John Houston at inside centre.
In the front five, lock Matt Mustchin (ankle) is ruled out and replaced by Craig Hamilton, with Paterson still unavailable for selection because of a rib injury and the influential fullback is joined in the treatment room by David Callam, Ryan Grant and Steven Turnbull.
EDINBURGH:H Southwell; A Turnbull, B Cairns, J Houston, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton, J Hamilton, S Cross, R Grant, A Hogg. Replacements: A Kelly, G Kerr, B Gissing, S Newlands, G Laidlaw, D Blair, N DeLuca.
ULSTER:C Schifcofske; A Trimble, D cave, P Wallace, M McCrea; I Humphreys, I Boss; T Court, R Best (capt), BJ Botha, Ed O'Donoghur, M McCullough, S Ferris, D Pollacvk, R Diak. Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, F Paulo, K Dawson, P Marshall, P Steinmetz, B Cunninghan.
Last meeting:(Ravenhill) W13-9
Top scorers:(Edinburgh) C Paterson 69 pts; (Ulster) I Humphries 50; (Ulster) D Caves, T Nagusa 3 tries; (Edinburgh) NA.
Referee:G Morris (WRU)
Verdict:Home win
