Henry in Ulster frame as McLaughlin thinks big
Henry is in contention with Willie Faloon for the number seven jersey but after his heart-warming cameo in the narrow victory over the Scarlets last week, he is certain to feature in what is Ulster’s biggest game in Europe for 12 years. McLaughlin has again named an extended squad for the crunch tie but there is likely to be little variation to the normal starting line-up, with Robbie Diack packing down at blindside alongside South African warrior Pedrie Wannenburg.
“Chris has never let us down,” said McLaughlin, wary of not giving away too many secrets.
“He is our ‘Mr Consistency’ and always does the job we ask him to do. Yes, without doubt, this is our biggest challenge this year.
“The Saints are a quality team with quality players throughout. They are not number one seeds in Europe for nothing.
“It’s going to be very tough, particularly playing away from home. We have to be on the money right from the start and the players know that they have to up the ante.
“Northampton rely very heavily on good set-piece and set their stall around that. They gain momentum from their scrums and line-outs, and it is up to us to stop it at source.
“They also have a very strong-running midfield and an attacking back three which also gives them forward momentum. But they can be predictable and we have looked at ways to counter them.
“The Heineken Cup is a step above the Magners League and up there with internationals,” said McLaughlin.
“Last season we lost games we should have won. But now we know how to grind out results which will stand us in good stead. We now have strong leaders throughout the team that has helped us gain a winning mentality.
“Confidence is running high through the camp and in training this week. It is now up to us to carry it right through until game time.”
Meanwhile, the furious Scarlets are set to submit a formal report to the Magners League following their defeat to Ulster.
Nigel Davies’ men were left seething after falling to a 20-18 loss at Ravenhill last Friday. They were on the wrong end of a 12-2 penalty count awarded by Scottish referee Graham Knox, while the television match official disallowed a Morgan Stoddart try when it was not within his power to do so.
The defeat put a major dent in the Scarlets’ play-off credentials. Now they will submit their findings to league officials and the Welsh Rugby Union.
Head coach Nigel Davies said: “It goes without saying we were bitterly disappointed with the overall performance of the official. It’s not what you expect at this level.
“Obviously there’s nothing we can do about the result now, but what we can do with this report is try to accelerate discussions about the refereeing of the Magners League.”
ULSTER SQUAD (v Northampton): J Cronin, D Fitzpatrick, BJ Botha, T Court, P McAllister, B Young, R Best (capt), N Brady, A Kyriacou, R Caldwell, D Tuohy, J Muller, T Barker, P Wannenburg, TJ Anderson, W Faloon, C Henry, R Diack, R Pienaar, P Marshall, N O’Connor, I Whitten, N Spence, P Wallace, D Cave, A Trimble, S Danielli, C Gilroy, J Smith, A D’Arcy, I Humphreys.
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