Ulster Rugby vs Glasgow Warriors

DRAGONS SLAIN, WARRIORS HERE TO BATTLE! Atop the Guinness PRO12 last Friday evening after a nail-biting 80 minutes, there was a sense that Ulster had set a ‘marker’.

On the opening weekend of the Six Nations, the game with a highly-competitive Newport Gwent Dragons offered the side a chance to make up the leeway with its game-in-hand over most of its rivals. The players and coaches would be the first to accept that it wasn’t the most comfortable of evenings, that the Kingspan Stadium faithful had been put through the ‘wringer’. But it was a victory, four more points, and the leadership of the division at a critical stage of the season. Injury, international calls and a very considered rotation of the match-day panel might have constituted a risk in some eyes. But the wins in Treviso and over the Dragons has yet again shown that the breadth, and quality, of the Ulster squad has been tested in the white heat of the PRO12 and younger players of special talent are bolstering the well-established ‘names’. It may not have been pretty, and that unfortunate ‘winning ugly’ phrase might for once have had some merit, but it is a sign of character – in a team and in an individual like Paddy Jackson – to grasp a chance, and then later reflect on why the performance was disappointing. Four points and the leadership of the PRO12 was more than mere consolation, it was evidence that there is resolve and character when imagination and innovation fail to fire. It was hardly the news Les Kiss and his coaches wanted when Sammy Arnold decided to take up Munster’s flattering two-year deal this summer, for he was someone who looked comfortable and confident when he appeared in the white jersey. But the young English-born but Irish-qualified three- quarter had looked at the pool of players with whom he was competing for regular senior action and decided his abilities might be fired and sharpened more quickly with the more regular inclusion he anticipates under Anthony Foley at Thomond Park. Arnold will continue to be part of the Ulster squad until May, and his enthusiasm and unquestioned skillset might well be employed to important effect in the next five weeks as coaches and players negotiate their way through crucial league games, at a time when senior players such as Rory Best, Jared Payne and Andrew Trimble are required in green. And this weekend again Ireland will be drawing players from Ulster for the unpredictability of a visit to Paris, and those which may be released back to Kiss and Head Coach Neil Doak will join the

PRO12 preparations for the visit tonight of reigning champions, Glasgow Warriors, the side which somehow managed to wrest the trophy out of Ulster’s grasp in two games over a week in May. The last ‘regular’ game in the league saw Gregor Townsend’s team earn a home semi-final between the sides. Even now there is debate and argument about Ulster’s selections for those games, the glittering prize of a trophy being won at Ulster’s home, Kingspan Stadium, chosen to stage the Final. It’s only fair that reason and good memory are added to any fractious discussion about Ulster’s squads for those games: some players key to actually winning the trophy were being carefully managed through injuries which could have been seriously exacerbated by playing in that final scheduled game of the PRO12 regular season. Yes, a top four place had been secured, the focus – and it was well-thought-out and very considered – was on the very reasonable assessment that Ulster had run into a fine vein of form and had at its disposal a panel expecting, and expected, to win the away fixture and thus a home semi-final. But reflection does not alter the consequence of a week to forget for fans and the players who’d committed to bringing silverware to its glistening, coveted new stadium in Belfast. Yes, there were a few decisions by officials which provoked some head-scratching, there were also the inevitable moments of fragility and lack of concentration. So Glasgow, to its evident surprise and delight, given the nature of its celebrations, not only had a home semi-final to cherish, but it also denied what promised to be a spectacular evening for Ulster a week later in the final! So tonight the reigning champions arrive at Kingspan Stadium, results this season not quite so impressive but within striking distance of a Top Four spot if they could get a ‘run’ together. To help topple the current leaders would be the boost the Scots’ campaign would really need to be savoured. But Ulster will not easily give up a hard-won place at the head of the PRO12, and Les Kiss made it clear two weeks ago that he saw the ‘clutch’ of games against Treviso, away, then the Dragons and Warriors at home during the Six Nations’ early rounds, as very important. “I want to win them all, we need to stamp momentum on our drive to the play-offs, and though I wouldn’t be happy with anything less than three wins we have

ROD NAWN

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