Ulster Rugby v Munster

ARTICLE BY ROD NAWN FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND SPORTS ENTHUSIAST @RODNAWN1

respective backlines which creates the real frisson of anticipation. Ulster Head Coach Jono Gibbes and assistant coach Dwayne Peel have riches from which to select the best combinations, and there’ll be many a detail applied to the composition of the matchday 23 when they sit down with Director of Rugby Les Kiss. In what will be the first game of his last month in Belfast, Christian Leali’ifano will partner the excellent John Cooney at half-back, with the prolific Jacob Stockdale, Craig Gilroy and Andrew Trimble the obvious challengers for wing positions. Tommy Bowe could be added to that try-scoring pool but he may again be deployed in the centre where is powerful stride and quick hands have proved so creatively useful. Fit-again Luke Marshall, the imposing Stuart McCloskey, the intelligent and experienced Darren Cave will also be in the thoughts of the ‘wise men’ who swap counsels before announcing the players who’ll do duty against this daunting Munster side. Charles Piutau will certainly be part of the home armoury, and Louis Ludik is more than just proficient in any position along the backline and with some of the youngsters will be pressing for inclusion. Backs in the red of Munster will be players familiar to us all, internationals abound and some exceptional Lions too. Simon Zebo is seeking new pastures next year and finds himself out of the international picture and that has all been Munster’s gain, and his penchant for scoring vital tries hasn’t dimmed. Keith Earls has endured at the top level, and centre Chris Farrell’s decision to seek regular rugby outside his native Ulster is paying rich dividends, Irish ‘caps’ already neatly tucked away. Darren Sweetnam, Rory Scannell and Andrew Conway are pedigree backs who have the ability to play in a variety of positions, and each will want to be involved in today’s tussle. If Kiss has tended to rotate his Ulster resources ‘new boy’ van Graan has proved even more unpredictable with his choices behind the scrum, particularly at out-half where JJ Hanrahan and Ian Keatley are just two excellent options for

him to benefit from the service of Ireland’s best scrum-half, Conor Murray. The automatic choice for the Lions is at the height of his powers, and with his quick-fire pass and, more significantly, the best kicking game of anyone in these isles Murray has been the designer-in-chief of so many great moments for club, country and the tourists. His reading of the ebbs and flows of a match are quite unique, and his battle with John Cooney, surely one of Ulster’s best signings of last year, will be intriguing. One is the Ireland scrum-half, the other has real ambitions to challenge that by the 2019 World Cup. But tonight is about the Guinness PRO14 and the result could have a lasting effect on both the league standings and the morale and the search for momentum of both sides. If you like your rugby intense, you are in the right place! And a thunderously Happy New Year to everyone!

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