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influence and the responses of important
individual players will be evident, and performers
of the calibre of Trimble, Bowe, McCloskey, the
Marshalls, Cave, Piutau, Stockdale, Gilroy, Lyttle,
Cooney and Ludik will want to lead the team
into the early autumn with emphatic results and
thrilling displays.
Tonight most observers anticipate that,
galvanising and exciting though the club’s arrival
in the PRO14 is, the Cheetahs will take some
time to adapt to conditions 5,000 miles from
Bloemfontein. Remember too that the parent
club is currently engaged on two fronts, with the
defence of the prestigious Currie Cup title a high
priority.
Coach Rory Duncan has to shuffle his resources
for various reasons, and international demands
mean that Springboks such as the outstanding
breakaway forward Uzair Cassiem are not
immediately available. But Duncan has made
it clear that the Cheetahs see the rugby future
increasingly being shaped in Europe. That view
is shared by many clubs in South Africa who feel
they contribute more than they benefit from being
part of Super Rugby.
That is an exciting thought for Ulster and the
existing PRO14 operation, and those oft-stated
‘world class’ ambitions for Kingspan and the
league do seem far more realistic as the product
becomes more attractive and the consequent
revenues are generated to offer supporters the
quality of rugby and of players that aim implies.
Tonight is an exciting night for Ulster and its
loyal fans, for the new-look Guinness PRO14,
and for the Cheetahs and Southern Kings as
they become part of an expanded and truly
international competition.
The Cheetahs come with a reputation for playing
with adventure, with panache, but they are well-
drilled, thoroughly professional and Ulster this
evening – and Munster next weekend in Limerick
– will not under-estimate the qualities of a team
skippered by the industrious Niell Jordaan.
Both of this evening’s sides will want to lay down
a ‘marker’, and the fascinating additions to
the league will expand the span of the PRO14,
geographically and in sporting and commercial
terms.
Ulster is determined to meet the challenges
ahead with renewed vigour and imagination, and
on this first day of September a new competition
provides a stage for a generation of players to
fulfil themselves and their supporters’ hopes.
These are exciting, fast-moving times. Step
aboard, it’s going to be a spectacular ride!
ARTICLE BY ROD NAWN
FREELANCE JOURNALIST
AND SPORTS ENTHUSIAST
@RODNAWN1