New Ulster role for Gilroy

Ulster have suffered a major blow ahead of their crucial Heineken Cup clash with Castres at Olympique at Stade Pierre-Antoine, with talented full-back Jared Payne ruled out after exacerbating a groin injury last week in the victory over Glasgow.

Kiwi Payne has been in exhilarating form both in attack and defence during Ulster’s excellent run this season, and in his absence coach Mark Anscombe has opted for a left-field move by naming Ireland’s excellent young prospect Craig Gilroy in the number 15 jersey — a position he has never played in senior rugby.

In all, Anscombe has made four changes with Ruan Pienaar replacing Paddy Jackson at fly-half and Paul Marshall wearing the number nine jersey. As expected, Roger Wilson, who will be making his 50th European Cup game, takes over from the injured Nick Williams while Neil McComb replaces Iain Henderson at lock to add more bulk to the pack and Michael Allen coming into the left-wing berth for Gilroy.

The choice of Pienaar at fly-half will trigger the debate on his best position. But as probably the best scrum-half in the world at present, he naturally wants to wear the No 9 jersey more than anything. However, he will switch if the team needs it, particularly with injury fears over regular fly-half Paddy Jackson, who has not been at his best lately.

“I enjoy playing at nine and that is one of the reasons I came over here in the first place because I wanted to play more at nine,” said Pienaar who was also used as a full-back back in South Africa.

“It has been fantastic for the last couple of years but there will be stages when I will be needed at 10 if there are injuries, at the moment I’m enjoying my rugby at nine. But I don’t mind.

“Paddy [Jackson] has been fantastic for us during the season, he is a great talent and he will play many more games for Ulster. He has got a mature head on his shoulders and he is a good decision-maker so he makes his own decisions and he is a good player.”

Meanwhile, Ulster have never won in 14 previous visits to France in the Heineken Cup, the closest being in October 2000 when injury-time tries by Jonny Bell and James Topping gave them an audacious 35-35 draw in Toulouse and the exquisite Pienaar knows there is a lot of work to do.

“It maybe great to know you have qualified, but there is a lot to play for and to get a home quarter-final would be massive for us and that is our aim,” said Springbok Pienaar, who destroyed the British and Lions with his astute play in the number 10 jersey in the first test two years ago in Durban.

“We won’t put any pressure on ourselves. We have to look after the result first and the process of getting there. But it is going to be difficult and we have never had a win in France so that’s a challenge for us. This group is talented enough to go there and get the result we want.”

Ulster went into the final group game last season against Clermont knowing they had already qualified and they should won that game.

“We should have won that, I think the last couple of weeks we have made mistakes as well at crucial times, this is about us being clinical and taking opportunities and taking the points when they are up for grabs and building pressure, hopefully we can get those things right and the scoreboard will look after itself,” said Pienaar who is not too worried about the ever-growing injury list.

“It is great to see the youngsters stepping up and performing well and it shows the depth we have in the squad now. In this competition that’s important because there is always going to be injuries and you will have guys getting exposure and building experience because that is something you need in the latter stages of the competition,” said Pienaar, who will be coming up against an old adversary in Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott.

“Rory was my understudy at the Sharks and he is a fantastic player. He is the centre of the Castres side and everything revolves around him. He is a good goal kicker, he is strong and I have a lot of respect for him.”