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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.
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.
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.
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ULSTER
RUGBY
www. ulster rugby.comROD NAWN