Four Changes To Ulster Ravens Side
There are four changes to the Ulster Ravens team that lost to Cornish Pirates last weekend for Friday night’s British & Irish Cup round 2 match against Jersey at Ravenhill (kick-off 7.30pm).
In the only change to the province’s back-line, Ian Porter starts at scrum half in place of Michael Heaney who drops to the replacements bench.
In the front row, Michael Crombie starts at loosehead prop in place of Paddy McAllister and Malone’s Christopher Taylor is selected at tighthead instead of Bronson Ross.
Neil McComb moves to his more familiar position in the second row with Mike McComish also switching from openside flanker to number 8. Sean Doyle comes in alongside him, wearing the number 7 jersey.
Lewis Stevenson was the stand-out performer for the Ravens in their 34-17 defeat away to the Cornish Pirates and he believes that this Friday’s game is of the ‘must win’ variety.
“It’s obviously a really important game for us (against Jersey) and it will be interesting to play against Niall (O’Connor). He will know us pretty well, just as we know him – it will bring an interesting dimension to the match,” he said.
“The result against the Cornish Pirates was a really disappointing. I don’t think that we did ourselves justice and we had a quality side out. This week we have to aim to put in a winning performance and get the campaign back on track.”
Kick-off at Ravenhill is 7.30pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased via the Ulster Rugby website and Ticketmaster. Admission is free for Ulster Season Ticket holders.
ULSTER RAVENS (v Jersey): David McIlwaine; Chris Cochrane, Ricky Andrew, Chris Farrell, Peter Nelson; James McKinney, Ian Porter; Michael Cromie, Niall Annett (capt), Christopher Taylor, Alan O’Connor, Neil McComb, Conor Joyce, Sean Doyle, Mike McComish.
Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Mark McGrath, Matthew Rea, Frank Taggart, Michael Heaney, Stuart McCloskey, Darren Busby.