Ulster Rugby vs Zebra

ROD NAWN

Kingspan Stadium under the late autumn Friday night floodlights, the visit of a highly decorated French opposition, and most of all, the lustre of European competition, ensure a vibrant expectation on this special evening. ULSTERREADYTO TOPPLEFRENCHGIANTS

vying for the scrum-half berth, and Nick Abendanon, out-half Camille Lopez and All Black centres Isaia Toeave and George Moala amongst an international cast of backs behind a heavyweight scrum, Europe’s top prize has proved irritatingly elusive. In the pack, which Ulster must be at its very best to master in the set-piece and at the breakdown, are some top-class performers in props Etienne Falgoux and French tight-head Rabah Slimani and the veteran Georgian Davit Zirakashvili. Add to that the very promising Fiji flanker Peceli Yato, a formidable Wallaby lock in Sitaleki Timani and hookers John Ulugia and Mike Tadjer from Australia and Portugal respectively and there is a hint of just how widely Clermont has cast its net to build an enviable player pool. Due to a serious summer injury, the mesmeric Wesley Fano won’t feature in the visitors’ three-quarters line, though the side’s scoring potential is threatening still, as Harlequins discovered last weekend when conceding nine tries in a crushing opening pool defeat. For Clermont, three Champions Cup final defeats in between 2013 and 2017 hurts an institution which counts itself at the sport’s top table but is unhappy at the one yawning void in its CV. Ulster, following its gritty and disciplined 17-16 win in Bath last Saturday, will not be in any mood to sate the French club’s appetite for that gap in its trophy cabinet to be hurriedly filled! Iain Henderson marked his debut as club captain with a typically front-foot display of physical presence and skilful leadership, while Marcel Coetzee’s classy demonstration

Champions Cup rugby has a special place in the hearts and ambitions of fans, especially those who shared in the success of 1999 when a legendary group under coach Harry Williams’ guidance sculpted an unforgettable mark in rugby history. On Friday nights, Toulouse, then considered amongst the world’s best and most-resourced clubs, was despatched both in the Pool games and then – spectacularly – in a quarter-final which saw Ulster play with style, resilience and undiluted passion, matched only by the fervour of a packed old Ravenhill ground adapted hastily to accommodate the masses drawn to an unprecedented rugby journey. For tonight’s distinguished opponents, 1999 was a good European year, the Challenge Cup secured in the defeat of Bourgoin, and second place in the French championship – now the Top 14 – was confirmation that the club from Montferrand, and initially the brainchild of the founder of the famous Michelin tyre company, would be a constant in the hierarchy of the game. Ulster, of course, would like to write a new chapter, for the team of Henderson, Stockdale, Marshall, Herring, Murphy and Coetzee to bring the Champions Cup back to Belfast, and in the dressing room coach Dan McFarland will have prepared a side of proven pedigree to provide the fans with another night to remember. That Clermont, the club which counts Rougerie, Saint Andre, Troncon and Strettle amongst its alumni, and which will have Morgan Parra and Greg Laidlaw, international captains both,

44

ulsterrugby.com