Ulster put faith in all-action Jackson

Ulster are pinning their hopes on the youthful Paddy Jackson to steer them past Edinburgh in tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final at the Aviva Stadium.

The 20-year-old will wear the number 10 jersey as Brian McLaughlin makes one of the biggest calls of his three-year tenure as head coach, a position he was sensationally ordered to step down from in February.

His confidence in Jackson will hopefully not be misplaced. McLaughlin has preferred the 20-year-old Belfast-born playmaker to enigmatic regular fly-half Ian Humphreys. It is Jackson’s unflinching tackling that is one of the main reasons he has been handed such an important role in Ulster’s biggest game for 13 years.