The Aviva Stadium will host the quarter-final of the United Rugby Championship (URC) this Saturday, where Leinster are set to go head-to-head against Ulster for the third time in this season. Ulster has enjoyed victories in their previous clashes, the first on New Year’s Day at the RDS with a nail-biting 22-21 win, followed by a narrow win over their provincial counterparts at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on May 18th. This sets an intriguing canvas for their upcoming showdown at the home of Irish Rugby, given Ulster’s track record of victories over Leinster in the URC’s regular season.
The Leinster side will feature only two players – Jimmy O’Brien and James Ryan – from last month’s face-off in Ravenhill, but six remaining from the New Year’s Day defeat. However, changes in Ulster’s line-up since their last encounter could lead to a different picture at the Aviva stadium.
Dan McFarland exited his role as the Ulster head coach in March, succeeded by Richie Murphy, formerly a skills and kicking coach at Leinster. Under Murphy’s direction, Ulster emerged victorious in their May clash against his former team.
On a related note, Robbie Henshaw, who initially took the field as an inside centre in the New Year’s Day match, will now be seen donning the number 13 jersey. Henshaw, who hails from Westmeath, concedes that Ulster’s performance and tactics have improved remarkably in the last five months.
“I think you can see they have gotten better and they have improved their performances over the last two weeks,” says Henshaw, understanding the challenge Ulster may present this week at the Aviva. “We’ll be eager to deliver our best rugby game against them, given their two consecutive victories over us this season.”
Following a decisive victory earning them additional points over Connacht last Friday at the RDS, several principal players from Leinster, specifically 12 from the team that partook in the heart-wrenching loss to Toulouse during the Champions Cup final in the capital of England last month, will make a comeback to the Aviva.
Jimmy O’Brien steps in as a full-back, taking the place of Hugo Keenan, who’s currently part of Ireland’s Sevens squad. Additionally, both James Ryan and Josh van der Flier, who were substitutes in the Toulouse match, will step in as part of the second row and openside flanker respectively.
Assuming that The Bulls can overcome Benetton in their forthcoming quarter-finals match, the spoils up for grabs for either Ulster or Leinster in tomorrow’s match is a semi-final visit to the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, next weekend.
Despite previous victories against Leinster earlier this season, Ulster steps into tomorrow’s match as the less favoured. Seeking to avoid their third season without a significant trophy, Leinster contrasts Ulster, whose last trophy was the Celtic League title achieved in 2006.
A couple of players, namely Stuart McCloskey and Tom O’Toole, played during Ireland’s successful Six Nations Championship earlier this year. With experienced players such as Jacob Stockdale, John Cooney, Rob Herring and Nick Timoney included in tomorrow’s line-up, Ulster team possesses ample experience and skill.
Leinster line-up includes; Jimmy O’Brien, Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe, Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan(captain), Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, ad Caelan Doris.
Reserves comprise of Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala’alatoa, Ross Molony, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Sam Prendergast, and Ciarán Frawley.
Ulster’s line-up includes Stewart Moore, Mike Lowry, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, and Jacob Stockdale; with Billy Burns and John Cooney; Eric O’Sullivan, team captain Rob Herring, and Tom O’Toole; Harry Sheridan, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, David McCann, along with Nick Timoney.
As for replacements, we have Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Scott Wilson, Greg Jones, Dave Ewers, Nathan Doak, Ethan McIlroy, and Jude Postlethwaite.
Officiating the match will be referee Andrew Brace from IRFU.