Reidy set to join Ulster’s century club

Jim Stokes Auckland-born Sean Reidy makes his 100th appearance for Ulster tomorrow against the Dragons at Rodney Parade - the same opponents he faced when making his debut five years ago.

Auckland-born Sean Reidy makes his 100th appearance for Ulster tomorrow against the Dragons at Rodney Parade - the same opponents he faced when making his debut five years ago.

Ulster make three changes to face the Dragons with three big name players in half-backs Billy Burns and John Cooney joining Jordi Murphy in the starting line-up. The Dragons will have a bit more fire in their belly at home after an embarrassing 57-7 drubbing by Benetton last week, but Ulster will be buoyed by their big 54-7 win against Zebre at the Kingspan.

Reidy, meanwhile, cannot believe he will be an Ulster Centurian this weekend. “If you told I’d be playing 100 games for Ulster on my first season here, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m proud to put on that jersey for that many times,” said Reidy. “I originally came here on a pre-season trial through David Humphreys, but when I got here for my first day, he wasn’t here any more, and neither was the head coach (Mark Anscombe).

“It was all up in the air, but Ulster gave me a chance with that pre-season trial, and it all worked out. It’s quite a coincidence, as my debut was against the Dragons, so it’ll be pretty special to me to be at Rodney Parade to win my 100th.”

DRAGONS: J Williams; H Amos, A Warren, J Sage, D Howells; J Lewis, R Williams; B Harris, R Hibbard (Capt), L Fairbrother, J Davies, M Screech, H Taylor, T Basham, H Keddie.

Replacements: R Lawrence, J Reynolds, L Brown, M Williams, L Greggains, T Knoyle, J Tovey, T Morgan.

ULSTER: L Ludik; R Baloucoune, D Cave, S McCloskey, R Lyttle; B Burns, J Cooney; E O’Sullivan, R Herring, M Moore, A O’Connor (capt), K Treadwell, S Reidy, J Murphy, N Timoney.

Replacements: A Warwick, J Andrew, W Herbst, I Nagle, M Rea, D Shanahan, J Hume, P Nelson.