So we kick off the HC this Friday away to Ulster, as per any HC game this is a must win encounter for both sides so it should be a cracker.
Team wise i would go with
1. Mulipola
2. Youngs
3. Cole
4. Slater
5. Kitchener
6. Gibson
7. Salvi
8. Crane
9. Youngs
10. Flood
11. Thompstone
12. Allen
13. Goneva
14. Scully
15. Morris
16. Stankovich
17. Briggs
18. Balmain
19. Parling
20. Waldrom
21. Mele
22. Williams
23. Bowden
Guys, with all due respect, & Tigers are certainly due respect, Ulster today have had the greatest boost we possibly could. Ruan Pienaar has signed an extension to his contract until summer of 2017.
I understand that he will start from the bench & when he comes on I expect unconfined joy. You have no idea how important this is for Ulster
The atmosphere will he extra special this friday night & Ulster from top to bottom will have been given a huge lift.
My confidence level has just shot up quite a few notches.
On the upside for you, as we did last season, we have an utter rash of injury concerns.
I think mele should start at 9 this week, the difference when he came on against saints was amazing. Nothing against Youngs, who I think is the best 9 in the country, it is just the fact he looks tired. Give him some time on the bench and let him recover a bit, he has played a lot of rugby in the past 12 months.
If fit Parling needs to start as he will give us a boost in the line out, if we can dominate the set pieces then we have a great chance.
A win would be great but a losing bonus point would not be the end of the world.
I wonder if the bench might see more changes than the starting XV, the clue might be in those who didn't play in the "A" league. Could Benjamin be in line for a bench spot, or is it too early in his recovery I wonder.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
surely there can be little doubt that Deacon and Parling will start (if the later is fit) and Slater will be at 6 - it is well known that our 2 previous stuffings in Ulster came about because of a total lack of aggression and physicality up front - therefore I expect the biggest pack we can muster - Kitchener will be the bench man..
Leicester Tigers (v Ulster Rugby, Ravenhill, Friday 8pm)
15 Niall Morris
14 Miles Benjamin
13 Vereniki Goneva
12 Dan Bowden
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Louis Deacon
5 Geoff Parling
6 Ed Slater
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Terrence Hepetema
Ulster XV and replacements to face Leicester Tigers, Heineken Cup, Ravenhill, Friday 11th October (kick off 20:00); (15-9): J Payne, A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, T Bowe, P Jackson, P Marshall; (1-8): T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, R Wilson, C Henry, N Williams; Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, R Lutton, I Henderson, R Diack, R Pienaar, S Olding, M Allen.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
