Ulster ‘A’ coaches Willie Anderson and Kieran Campbell have announced their team for the opening round of the British & Irish Cup against Jersey Reds at Shaw’s Bridge on Friday evening (kick-off 7pm).
The Ulster ‘A’ team, sponsored by CD Group, will feature a blend of experience and youth for the challenge of Jersey. This will be the first meeting between the sides since they were paired together in the 2013/14 British & Irish Cup pool stages.
It is the province’s first competitive outing of the season following warm-up games against Canada ‘A’ and Leinster A. The management team have signalled their intent to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the first time since the 2011/12 season.
Tommy Bowe and Dan Tuohy, who will both start for Ulster ‘A’ as they continue their returns from injury, boast an impressive 272 Ulster senior caps between them. A further nine players have also enjoyed first team experience for Ulster. Admission into Friday’s game is just £5 for adults, while under-18s are admitted free.
Second row Tuohy has just completed his rehab from ankle surgery and made his return in Ulster colours during the ‘A’ side’s defeat to Leinster ‘A’ at Donnybrook last Saturday.
“From a selfish point of view it was great to get the full 80 minutes. The ankle felt good. You can try and replicate it as much as you want in training but getting the match-time under the belt was important for me,” explained Tuohy.
“I’ve been hassling Les (Kiss) for weeks now, so as long as I’m fit I’ll keep banging on his door looking for a place on the first team. We’ve a lot of big games coming up in the next few weeks so I’ll just keep working away and hopefully he’ll give me a shot in the team. That’s all I want.”
Commenting on the province’s ‘A’ team, the Ireland international added: “The entire squad have been working very hard throughout pre-season and the opening weeks of the PRO12. Hopefully we’ll begin the B&I Cup with a home win.”
Jersey Reds opened their Greene King IPA Championship campaign in promising fashion by winning the first two games, but followed that with four successive defeats, most recently to fellow B&I Cup Pool 1 side London Scottish.
However, they will be travelling to Belfast hoping to rediscover the form that saw them go all the way to the competition semi-final last season, where they narrowly lost out to Yorkshire Carnegie by a point.
ULSTER ‘A’ (v Jersey Reds): Johnny McPhillips, Tommy Bowe, Sam Windsor, Mark Best, Aaron Cairns; Brett Herron, Dave Shanahan; Jonny Simpson, John Andrew, Ricky Lutton, Dan Tuohy (capt), Kieran Treadwell, Stephen Mulholland, Conor Joyce, Lorcan Dow.
Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Tom O’Hagan, John Donnan, Nick Timoney, Angus Lloyd, Callum Smith, Conor Kelly.
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