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HAVEN’T WE MET BEFORE?
For professional sportsmen, and for the fans of any sport, pitting yourself against
the very best raises the adrenaline levels and gets the emotions churning with
excited expectation.
ROD NAWN
And the Kingspan Stadium crowd knows that the
arrival of England’s all-conquering Saracens will be
one of the most anticipated visits of the season.
Add to that the lustre of European competition in the
shape of the Champions Cup and a floodlit bowl in
late November and the scene is set for one of the
most colourful, vocal and partisan of occasions the
ground will witness this year.
Ulster belatedly makes its bow in this season’s
competition, the tragedies of Paris a week ago
understandably leading to the late postponement
of what should have been the campaign opener
at Oyannax the following day. Those supporters
who made the trip to the lower reaches of the Alps
represented the Province with distinction, taking the
small town and its club to its heart, as they did the
fans.
So, sport having been put in proper if catastrophic
perspective, the European journey starts here.
And Saracens really does represent the very best the
northern hemisphere offers at club level. Reigning
champions in the Premiership in England, currently
sitting atop the table with an unblemished record,
and with a proud winning record in elite European
competition, Ulster could hardly have been drawn
against more distinguished opposition.
David Humphreys and Mark McCall, of course,
had memorably lifted the European Cup together
at Lansdowne Road in 1999 when Colomiers was
defeated, and the good friends have twice been on
opposite sides as the respective Directors of Rugby
for Ulster and Saracens.
Many have followed their careers with interest, and
as Humphreys continues the task of rebuilding
the Gloucester club, McCall has embellished his
credentials with two Aviva Premiership titles, a
European Cup final, all achieved with a soft-spoken
modesty but steely determination which typified his
days as a thoughtful and inventive centre for Ulster
and Ireland.
Injury during that 1998/9 season meant that Ulster’s
captain reluctantly had to retire as the journey for
Harry Williams’ team was dotted with great nights and
afternoons in Belfast, when Toulouse – another great
club which has been drawn in this Champions Cup
Pool One – and Stade Francais were despatched.
McCall was integral to that success though, because
when he had to admit a chronic neck injury had
cruelly foreshortened his playing career, he threw
himself with passion and guile into his role as an
assistant coach to Williams as the route to Lansdowne
Road in January, 1999, was joyously plotted.
He would eventually take on the role of Head Coach
and brought the Celtic League title back to Belfast in
2006, but after building a truly professional set-up,
providing unprecedented numbers to the national
team, and imbuing the squad with his own tireless
work ethic and thirst to improve. Mark left in 2007,
disappointingly early for those who knew he was
destined, given his understanding and forensic rugby
brain, to go to the top in his profession.
And so it has proved, and with spells in France
refining his talents he was head-hunted by the most
ambitious and demanding club in England. The
names Paddy Johns and Ryan Constable are writ
large in Ulster’s history but both achieved legendary
status at ‘Sarries’, and now McCall is – right from the
front – sustaining a link with the Province that is, each
year, being decorated even more.
In April 2013 Ulster and Saracens strolled through
the European Pool stages and Ulster travelled once
more to Twickenham, for a quarter-final clash which
Saracens won convincingly, but the gap between
the top PRO12 outfits and the elite English clubs was
palpably closing.
So wind the clock forward a year. Again the sides
were in supreme European Cup form and drawn
yet again to meet at the quarter-final stage of the
Heineken Cup, and Ulster was considered a very
real threat to the ‘big guns’ of France and England.
Humphreys and his staff had recruited widely and
wisely, younger players had developed an appetite
and talent for the biggest of games.
The spanking new Kingspan Stadium, filled to
capacity, had an electricity running through it for
hours before kick-off: this was a game Ulster could –
fans thought would – win, and set down a ‘marker’ for
a year which, in early autumn, was full of promise.
Ulster paraded its array of star names – Tommy Bowe,
Andrew Trimble, Ruan Pienaar, the fast-maturing
Paddy Jackson, John Afoa, Rory Best, Chris Henry,
Nick Williams - in a side which was one of the most
mentally strong and gifted of its generation.
Saracens had the flamboyant Chris Ashton, Owen
Farrell, the Vunipola brothers, Brad Barritt, David
Strettle, Mouritz Botha and a phalanx of international
‘gallacticos’, and a wonderful contest was anticipated.
It was one of those days when spectators felt they
would indeed be able to say ‘I was there’.
And, in a way, the pre-match hype delivered, but in a
hugely deflating way for home fans. After four minutes
Jared Payne was adjudged to have taken out Andy
Goode in the air: referee Jerome Garces studied
the contact on the big screens for what seemed
an eternity. No malice, no intent, but technically the