Ulster Rugby vs Oyonnax

ARTICLE BY ROD NAWN FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND SPORTS ENTHUSIAST @RODNAWN1

So, this year’s campaign for Ulster in Europe will be decided this weekend, not by the outcome at Kingspan, but only on Sunday when the results from all five pools are compiled. The five group winners go automatically through to the quarter-finals, and the best three runners-up will join them. At the end of last weekend’s series of matches Ulster had 13 points from its five games to date, and the least well-placed to be amongst the three sides to qualify from second spot in its group. But all that can change, and the Ulster fans will roar their favourites on hoping for a maximum points return, and for helpful results in other pools, to secure what would be a very welcome place in the knockout stages in early Spring, and perhaps apt reward for those outstanding wins over Toulouse and, yes, the remarkable recovery to win in Oyonnax. Les Kiss and Head Coach Neil Doak don’t make the absence of injured players an excuse, they regard those fit and healthy as the best available squad. But Jared Payne’s impressive return last week at Saracens, Darren Cave’s welcome availability, and Nick Williams’ possible restoration to the panel augurs well, not just for the Champions Cup but for the all-important PRO12 series which returns just as the Six Nations gets underway. The coaches know how to manage their resources, and Ireland’s Call will mean a strong contingent joining Joe Schmidt for some weeks. But there’s encouraging news of the gifted Stuart Olding who lined out for the Ulster A team last night, and hopefully Dan Tuohy’s recovery continues, while Tommy Bowe and Iain Henderson will want to be involved before the end of the season. It is indeed another big European occasion at Kingspan Stadium today, and if the jigsaw pieces fall, well then an extension of the Champions Cup adventure will be the reward players, coaches and fans will gleefully welcome. But Kiss has described this Ulster team as ‘growing’, and it will be intriguing, sometimes infuriating, exciting, often disappointing, watching a squad returning to full health show just what it has to offer for the short and long-term future under the shrewd, inventive guidance of Kiss, Doak, Clarke, Joe Barakat and Niall Malone. They, and the players, deserve some good fortune, and most certainly will respond to what’s sure to be a huge welcome back to Kingspan Stadium today.

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