Ulster set for “tough time” in Thomond

ULSTER will be at full-strength for Saturday’s Magners League game against Munster at Thomond Park in stark comparison to their injury-hit hosts.

Munster will again be without Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, Tony Buckley, Dave Ryan and the suspended John Hayes so Frenchman Julien Brugnaut, Denis Fogarty and Darragh Hurley look set to man the front-row with young Stephen Archer on the bench. Provision was also made for another prop in the 26 strong panel issued yesterday.

Alan Quinlan, rested against Edinburgh last week, returns to the back-row where New Zealander Nick Williams will be hoping for recognition after some excellent performances for in-form Dolphin in the AIB League. Doug Howlett is again ruled out of the threequarter line where there’s a recall for fit-again Barry Hurley.

Munster manager Shaun Payne had mixed news on the injury front.

“Tony Buckley is going to be out for at least another couple of weeks with his calf injury but Jerry Flannery is a lot better and will be taking a limited part in training this week. Meanwhile Jeremy Manning is facing an operation on his shoulder that may keep him out for 12 to 16 weeks.”

Payne won’t go beyond the word “disappointment” to describe the team’s display against Edinburgh on Friday night. But he didn’t downplay the importance of Saturday’s clash with the Ulster men.

“There’s a massive focus on getting a result this week. It’s always been a tough game against Ulster, plus the fact that they were responsible for one of our worst reversals at Thomond Park last year (a 37-11 bonus-point defeat). It would be foolish to suggest there wasn’t anything in this game. It would have played on their minds for most of last season.”

Paddy Wallace, rested last week under IRFU stipulations, returns to the Ulster fold along with second-row Neil McComb while Stephen Ferris, a late withdrawal due to an ankle problem prior to the win over Leinster, looks certain to start in a powerful Ulster back-row completed by the in-form Willie Falloon and Chris Henry.

Henry proved an inspirational figure in the win over Leinster and deservedly earned the man-of-the-match award. Predictably, however, he is sounding a warning note before the crunch Thomond Park clash. While we won, Munster lost, so we’re preparing for a real tough time in Limerick. But we must keep our feet on the ground.”

” Everyone will think ‘great win against Leinster’, but we have to get ready for Munster now and win, or last Saturday will be quickly forgotten about.”

Meanwhile flanker Ray Ofisa and lock Michael Swift are both doubtful for Connacht’s Magners League clash against the Scarlets. Ofisa is struggling to recover from a head injury sustained some weeks ago while Swift — just two appearances short of Eric Elwood’s all-time record of 161 caps for Connacht — is battling a rib injury.

ULSTER SQUAD: Forwards: N Brady, BJ Botha, R Caldwell, T Court, B Young, E O’Donoghue, S Ferris, A Kyriacou, D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, W Faloon, T Horua, D Fitzpatrick, B McComb.

Backs: T Nagusa, D Cave, N O’Connor, S Danielli, I Whitten, P Marshall, I Boss, A Trimble, I Humphreys, C Schifcofske, P Wallace.

MUNSTER SQUAD: Forwards: D Hurley, J Brugnaut, S Archer, A.N. Other, D Fogarty, D Varley, P O’Connell capt, D O’Callaghan, D Ryan, M O’Driscoll, A Quinlan, D Leamy, N Ronan, D Wallace, N Williams.

Backs: T O’Leary, P Stringer, R O’Gara, P Warwick, L Mafi, J De Villiers, I Dowling, B Murphy, D Hurley, K Earls, F Jones.