Leinster ready to vent frustration
If ever there was a game for Leinster to repair the hurt of their 29-10 Heineken Cup drubbing to Edinburgh on December 15, then no better game to restore confidence and regenerate momentum than a big performance against Ulster, themselves experiencing greater problems.
Ulster supporters are still awaiting official news on a successor to Mark McCall, and it now appears that likely favourite for the head coach role, Matt Williams, won’t begin his tenure in Ravenhill until the new year. The arrival of hard-working, straight-talking Williams can’t come soon enough for Ulster — currently in the hands of caretaker boss Steve Williams — as they are in danger of missing out on the 2008/09 Heineken Cup if they fail to lift themselves above Connacht in the Magners League before the end of this season.
Leinster, meanwhile, sit on top of the pile after three consecutive wins, a sequence book-ended by a gutsy victory over Munster in Musgrave Park. That win should have provided the impetus to land back-to-back wins over Edinburgh, but the away defeat to the Scots appears to have ended their European aspirations for another season. Now, a shot at a Magners League title is very much in their sights.
Cheika has yet to finalise the make-up of five positions on his starting XV, with the centre and out half slots and two back row places to be named closer to kick-off. The fitness of Brian O’Driscoll remains a concern, with the Ireland captain admitting he is troubled by a persistent ankle injury. Cheika might be tempted to rest his captain for this old style Inter-pro, which is set to be played in front of sell-out crowd. Luke Fitzgerald, influential in Leinster’s last league outing against Munster, replaces the injured Shane Horgan on the right wing, Girvan Dempsey continues at full-back, Rob Kearney on the left wing while Cheika persists with on-loan scrum half Guy Easterby. The front and second rows have a familiar look to them, with Leo Cullen continuing his partnership with Malcolm O’Kelly and Ollie le Roux joining Bernard Jackman and Stan Wright in the front row.
“I think that Ulster have had issues for themselves,” says Cheika, “But when it comes to Leinster versus Ulster, it’s not going to be any different to any other Interprovincial match. It’s going to be a very difficult game for us, especially as it’s coming on the back of a bad defeat.
“Any time you suffer a bad defeat, it’s the same. You’ve just got to kick on, do the correct analysis of the game we’ve just had, bring that into what we need to improve for the game that we’ve got ahead of us and take that game on.”
Williams makes three changes in his starting line up and a further three in the replacements to the team that were defeated 16-8 by Ospreys in the Heineken Cup at Ravenhill. Paddy Wallace and Isaac Boss renew their half-back partnership, with Niall O’Connor and Kieran Campbell dropping out of the squad entirely. David Humphreys and Paul Marshall are named as half-back cover on the bench. New signing Grant Webb is also on the replacements’ bench.
However caretaker coach Steve Williams, remains in the dark about any future appointments in Ulster.
“You guys in the press appear to know more than I do. When you hear anything, give me a shout,” he laughed.
G Dempsey; L Fitzgerald, B O’Driscoll (capt)/G D’Arcy, G D’Arcy/F Contepomi, R Kearney; F Contepomi/J Sexton; G Easterby; O le Roux, B Jackman, S Wright; L Cullen, M O’Kelly; S Jennings/S Keogh, S Jennings/K Gleeson, J Heaslip.
B Blaney, C Healy/S Knoop, C Jowitt, AN Other, C Keane, AN Other, G Brown/C Warner.
B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, R Dewey, S Danielli; P Wallace, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best (capt), D Fitzpatrick, J Harrison, R Caldwell, N Best, K Dawson, M McCullough.
B Young, N Brady, C Del Fava, G Webb, D Pollock, P Marshall, D Humphreys
P Fitzgibbon (IRFU).
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