Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

HOW THEY’LL CALL IT THE BLUES! by ROD NAWN

AFTER last weekend’s extraordinary, bizarre and wonderfully uplifting Six Nations Championship climax, appetites are really whetted for the critical ‘run for home’ in the Guinness PRO12.

On an individual level there have been some standout performers, scrum-half Lloyd Williams a lively, creative link, and Argentina’s Joaquin Tuculet has scored tries from wing, centre and full-back. A player who brings quality to all those positions is diminished by the term ‘utility’, but coaches loves his disciplined flair and team ethic. A recent arrival has the demanding task of following a line of great Cardiff No. 10s, and if Gareth Anscombe returns to the side this evening he will certainly want to show Ulster fans his undoubted calibre. Son of the former coach at Kingspan Stadium, Mark, the recruit from ‘down under’ is already earmarked for international honours, and only this week he – with Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Lydiate – signed lucrative ‘dual’ contracts with the Welsh Rugby Union which effectively ‘golden handcuffs’ him to the national set-up. He will now battle it out with Rhys Priestland and Dan Biggar for the red jersey in this autumn’s World Cup, and his free-running, robust style – allied to a fine kicking game – is a real bonus for Wales in this crucial year. Adam Jones, 95 times a Wales tight-head prop, and in an elite group of six players to have won three Grand Slams – Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies, JPR Williams, Gethin Jenkins and Ryan Jones complete that distinguished line – joined the Blues at the start of the year after leaving the Ospreys. The unmistakeable Jones will not be staying on at the Arms Park beyond May, his next stop is rumoured to be Harlequins as debate still rages over whether he should rescind his decision to retire from the international game. But he has played 20 times for Cardiff this season, been a lynchpin in the front row, and the 34-year-old would be assured of a great reception this evening if he lines out. Because of their Six Nations exertions other big ‘names’ are unlikely to feature, so Gethin Jenkins and Sam Warburton will probably sit this one out, though arguably Ulster will be suffer more as Six Nations’ Jared Payne, Tommy Bowe and Rory Best get a deserved break. Hopefully Joe Schmidt will let Neil Doak decide if Iain Henderson is battle-hardened now and ready to start what will be a crucial game for his side.

There are just five rounds of the regular league season left, Ulster’s focus firmly on a Top Four and play-off spot. For this evening’s visitors Cardiff this year has been one of mixed fortunes, indifferent performances in the PRO12, but the Welsh giants still have European ambitions with a key Challenge Cup quarter-final date in Newport next month. A squad littered with star names has also tasted some success in the Anglo-Welsh LV Cup, and even if neither side was at full-strength to claim the ‘scalp’ of Wasps has been a highlight of the year. The coaching team is now headed up by backs specialist Paul John and by the charismatic Dale McIntosh, the Kiwi ‘capped’ by Wales and something of a folk hero in the Principality. His heyday was in the era before the arrival of a fully-blown professional game, and when he retired as a player from his beloved Pontypridd he eased seamlessly into a coaching role. Now, with John, he forms one of the most astute and demanding coaching duos in rugby, and while the former is perceived as the more cerebral and less vocal of the pair McIntosh has few peers in the intelligence and vision he brings to building strong defensive drills into the players. For a club of Cardiff’s rich tradition, though, Challenge Cup level in Europe, quarter-final stages of the LV Cup, and a place in the lower regions of the PRO12 table just do not meet the aspirations of the Arms Park faithful. There is an acceptance that, after some turbulence in the management set-up and the well-chronicled acrimony in the Welsh game about its structures and direction, stability and consistency are the immediate priorities. And in that context Cardiff’s season – given that it is one of the club’s hardest hit by international ‘calls’ – has not been entirely without some reasons for optimism. Successive wins at the start of the month against Connacht and Edinburgh demonstrated that even when Warren Gatland had taken a contingent for Six Nations’ duty there was depth and quality enough to garner valuable league points.

ROD NAWN

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ULSTER RUGBY

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