And we’re back to having knock out rugby at Ravenhill this weekend. I think the last time was a few years back when our prize for being top seed after the group stage was a match up against Toulouse.
Hard to know exactly what team we’ll be putting out, with half an eye on the games to come, but I’d take a stab at a team that looks something like.
1. Bell
2. Stewart
3. TOT
4. Hendo
5. Irvine (if fit) or hopes
6. McCann
7. Ward
8. Augustus
9. Doak
10. Murphy/humph/doak
11. Stockdale
12. The fridge
13. Hume.
14. Kok
15. Ethan
Our Irish contingent almost certainly will have to sit some games out before the end of the season, so it makes sense for me that timoney sits out this one, given we’ve other good options available. Stu might unfortunately have to miss out some of our key matches later on, but think it’s worth him playing until judes hand is fixed. Tot and Jacob rested last week, so I imagine they’ll almost certainly be playing this week. It’d be nice to have izzy back, but after two concussions so close together, he’ll probably have to sit out a while.
Watched the ospreys against connect at the weekend there and they seemed alarmingly competent, we should have far too much for them, but they’ve a chance if we don’t turn up. A couple of their big players leaving at the end of the season too, so they might be well motivated to try and take whats probably their last chance to win something.
Squad Update
Michael Lowry sustained a groin injury in training last week and is currently unavailable for selection.
Robert Baloucoune had successful elbow surgery last week and will thus be sidelined for a number of weeks.
Injury doubts for this week’s fixture against Ospreys include James Humphreys (hamstring), Jack Murphy (ribs), Jake Flannery (shoulder) and Jude Postlethwaite (hand).
All of these will have fitness for selection assessed through training this week.
Sam Crean (knee), Charlie Irvine (lower leg) and Cormac Izuchukwu (concussion) have all resumed full team training and are currently available for selection.
ah Jesus we have no outhalf!
Assuming one of the three doubts doesn’t pull through it’ll need to be Doak. I think Jack Murphy just has bruised ribs he could play, painful though it’d be, but the ospreys would almost certainly be targeting him, knowing they’re not right and bringing him back sooner than we should could see us missing for a few weeks after again.
Good to have izzy and Irvine back though.
I presume Harry Sheridan will also be available, since he was allowed to offset a week of the ban by taking the always-popular tackling school.
I read that murphy and flannery both trained today, but I agree I don’t think it’s worth risking murphy if he’s carrying an injury.
The same commenter said its ulster that after the asusie prop. But then someone else made the argument that munster prop situation is actually alot worse than ulster’s.
Edit: ‘We’ve a few more options at 10 than maybe it looks at face value’ https://the42.ie/6999908
Murphy explained: “Jake (Flannery) has trained fully, Jack (Murphy) has taken part in training and did quite a lot, more than we probably thought he would do.
“And James (Humphreys), although he came off with a hamstring (after starting in last weekend’s URC bonus point win in Zebre), it’s not as bad as first appeared.”
“So, we’ve a few more options at 10 than maybe it looks at face value,” Murphy stated
Let Jake play and let Jack fully recover, seems to be the sensible approach.
I don’t really think you can read too much into what Murphy said, in the sense it’s what he had to say. It’s not like he will come out and say, yeah Murphys ribs aren’t right and Flannery isn’t sure about his shoulder, but one of them will have to play; that’d be putting a massive target on them, if they took the field, though they’ll likely have that anyway.
If Jake is training fully, I agree that letting him play is the way forward. I’m sure that he is absolutely itching to be given a go in his preferred position, I’m not sure when he last actually played there, even if only for a few minutes. I thought he looked fairly decent when he was getting more time there in the pre Murphy era.
Having Sheridan back, could see Henderson being given a rest too, though that’ll just be down to how his body feels.
- Angus Bell (11)
- Rob Herring (268)
- Tom O’Toole (136)
- Iain Henderson (C) (173)
- Cormac Izuchukwu (48)
- David McCann (85)
- Nick Timoney (178)
- Juarno Augustus (11)
- Nathan Doak (103)
- Jake Flannery (33)
- Jacob Stockdale (143)
- Stuart McCloskey (213)
- James Hume (114)
- Werner Kok (29)
- Ethan McIlroy (72)
Replacements:
- Tom Stewart (69)
- Sam Crean (14)
- Scott Wilson (51)
- Charlie Irvine (9)
- Bryn Ward (13)
- Conor McKee (16)
- Jack Murphy (28)
- Zac Ward (23)
So Jake starts and Jacks on the bench, I think that’s the strongest team that would could have fielded? Great to have Cormac back
Edit: Ospreys team
1. Gareth Thomas
2. Sam Parry
3. Rhys Henry
4. Rhys Davies
5. Ryan Smith
6. Huw Sutton
7. Jac Morgan (c)
8. Morgan Morris
9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
10. Dan Edwards
11. Luke Morgan
12. Keiran Williams
13. Owen Watkin
14. Dan Kasende
15. Jack Walsh
Replacements:
16. Efan Daniel
17. Steffan Thomas
18. Tom Botha
19. James Fender
20. Harri Deaves
21. Kieran Hardy
22. Evardi Boshoff
23. Iestyn Hopkins
Is that Ospreys strongest team?
Ospreys are missing Dewi Lake, who I read is now out injured for the rest of the season. Also Ross Moriarty would usually be a first teamer but maybe also injured?
Ah Moriarty is suspended; I see he was red-carded a couple of weeks ago.
Storm Dave will be at full in full swing by kick off, mightn’t need at 10 after all!
Any dreams of a potential semi against munster are dead it seems, they’re getting utterly man shamed in Devon atm
I see the weather forecast has improved for later, all be it still utterly grim, was initially projected for winds of more than 40mph, but now in the 20s. Hopefully we’ll be attacking the bear tent end in the second half with the wind at our backs, as is traditional.
it was a tough draw for Munster and a tough path to the final too. Considering where they are in the league probably better for them to concentrate on the league ( they don’t have a terrible run for it).
We should win this game, but the more I think about it its a must win game. After losing to connacht at home, to lose at home today in “pressure” knockout game like this, against at team that’s not doing the best this year, you would think it would effect confidence when we have home games against Leinster, Stormers and Glasgow, and those teams could see us as more of a easy target for an away win and come with a stronger team. Ulster have a rep for collapsing under pressure, they could reverse that image in this run of home games.
Yes, we seem to have lost our early season mojo since January, I think/hope we’ve a couple of games now to rediscover our swagger before a pretty brutal rum in of crunch games that will all be fiercely contested.
In some ways I feel more nervous about tonight than I do about the ladyboys, the second is a match that if you can’t get in the correct headspace for and fired up you shouldn’t be playing pro rugby, a bit harder for a team who aren’t quite as gash as their league position would suggest where we are massive favourites.
If we were looking to see whether we could survive through a tough game, that would have fitted the bill. Only just good enough in the end. There were a worrying amount of injuries.
I was impressed with Flannery, particularly that he had the confidence to take that quick tap penalty at the start. Stood up quite well in defence even.
I was distracted for most of the first half ( was looking after the 4 kids while the wife was out late night shopping), and then having a nightmare with the premiersports player for last 10 mins, only seeing the end of the game now.
Too many penalties in the first half, but did well to recover to be only 3 down at half time ( what was stockdale thinking kicking it). The player froze again for 10mins just has ospreys scored with 3 mins left, so I thought thew game was over at that stage. I think it was forward but would not have been surprised if they have not given it, there was little in it. Ulster lucky to win and I don’t have much confidence for forward. Bell and Crean both going off injured and TOT didn’t look great at the end either. Injury could be the undoing for this season ( I’m I being too pessimistic)
Edit: also don’t understand how huge didn’t get a yellow for the deliberate knock on
