Ulster Rugby vs Dragons

ARTICLE BY ROD NAWN FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND SPORTS ENTHUSIAST @RODNAWN1

profile raised with the appearance of a player with a power and pace which is as adept in attack as defence, and whose deftness of pass was surely best demonstrated with the wondrous off-load, after a scything run from halfway, which sent one of the up-and-coming youngsters, Jacob Stockdale, in for Ulster’s fourth try of a good night ‘at the office’ last weekend. Of Piutau - of the fast-returning Tommy Bowe, Wiehahn Herbst, Peter Nelson, Ricky Lutton and the rest of the currently side-lined – we will hear more this season: that is something to savour. The last month has seen a swathe of players get their chance to put down a marker in the games with Leinster, Exeter Chiefs and, on first viewing in Belfast, against Northampton Saints last weekend. Rodney Ah You’s arrival from Connacht to offer international-class support at tight-head prop could prove, in some ways, as key as the stars from overseas. With a disciplined approach to his craft and his wellbeing Ah You could become not just a pillar of the Ulster front row but of Ireland’s scrum for many years to come. His promise is that great. No Payne, Trimble, Luke Marshall, Olding, Gilroy, Best, Reidy or Henderson as they go through the Irish Player Management protocols, and frustrating as their absences may seem for now their refreshed, fully-fit return to the squad will be timely and justify the hopes of everyone in the Kingspan Stadium coaching box and in the seats and on the terraces at the league’s best-equipped stadium. For supporters who have seen their favourites come agonisingly close to bring much-wanted silverware to Kingspan, particularly in the last two seasons, there is both hope and expectation for the 2016/17 season. But those two great emotions must be leavened with patience and understanding. Patience in that the players on duty tonight and in the immediate future must be given their chance to gel as a unit, to accommodate the new and the different. Understanding, in that fans who have been so faithful and only intermittently dissenting must appreciate the quality of player being generated by, and brought to, Ulster. A journey which promises to be thrilling and spectacular starts in earnest this evening and

for this game – and scores more – captain Rob Herring deserves to have his side hear the famous roar of encouragement for a full 80 minutes. It is going to be a night when all the old passions and ambitions are reignited, so let the Ulstermen on the pitch hear those on the terraces and in the stands make their enthusiastic support heard. This could be the year when the jigsaw falls into hugely successful place. We can all help put the vital pieces together.

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