With some new faces on board, Ulster are the first of the Irish provinces into GUINNESS PRO14 action as they launch their 2018/19 campaign against the Ospreys in a Conference A duel at Kingspan Stadium.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, September 27
ULSTER v OSPREYS, Kingspan Stadium, kick-off 7.35pm (live Premier Sports 1/eir Sport 1/DAZN)
Team News: Summer signings Jack McGrath, Sam Carter and Matt Faddes will all earn their first Ulster caps in tonight’s GUINNESS PRO14 opener against the Ospreys in Belfast.
Tickets for the eagerly-awaited first round game, priced from £17 for adults and £12 for juniors, are still available at ulsterrugby.com/buytickets. It will be shown live on Premier Sports 1 and eir Sport 1.
Ireland international McGrath starts in the front row alongside captain Rob Herring and Tom O’Toole, with Carter, the 16-times capped Wallaby lock, partnering Kieran Treadwell in the engine room.
Matthew Rea, Jordi Murphy and Sean Reidy are selected as Ulster’s starting loose forwards, while last season’s pivotal half-back partnership of Billy Burns and John Cooney remains in place. 21-year-old talent James Hume, who signed his first senior contract earlier this year, and Luke Marshall are paired together in midfield.
Following a couple of impressive pre-season showings and a brace of tries in the home game against Glasgow Warriors, Craig Gilroy will make his first competitive outing in over 11 months. He joins Robert Lyttle and New Zealander Faddes in the back-three.
John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor and Greg Jones will provide the forward options from the bench for Dan McFarland’s men, who reached the semi-final stage of the PRO14 last May, with David Shanahan, Michael Lowry and Louis Ludik covering the back-line.
Ulster begin the new season without Jacob Stockdale, Iain Henderson and retiring hooker Rory Best who are away on Rugby World Cup duty with Ireland. The province’s current injury list includes Martin Moore (calf), Nick Timoney (hand), Will Addison (hamstring), Gareth Milasinovich (knee), Robert Baloucoune (knee) and Marcell Coetzee (ankle).
Meanwhile, Dan Lydiate captains the Ospreys in the absence of Justin Tipuric, one of ten of the region’s players who are away on Rugby World Cup duty. A late penalty from Cai Evans gave Allen Clarke’s side a 22-21 away win over Edinburgh in their final pre-season game two weeks ago.
The Ospreys ranks are missing eight Wales players who are currently in Japan, as well as Namibia’s Lesley Klim and Ma’afu Fia from Tonga. Strong-running centre Scott Williams, who missed out on World Cup selection, will partner Cory Allen in midfield tonight.
Dan Baker is a notable inclusion on the bench as he prepares to make his return to competitive action following a long injury lay-off. The Ospreys finished fourth in Conference A last season and qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup thanks to a 21-10 play-off victory over the Scarlets.
ULSTER: Matt Faddes; Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, James Hume, Robert Lyttle; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Jack McGrath, Rob Herring (capt), Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Sam Carter, Matthew Rea, Jordi Murphy, Sean Reidy.
Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor, Greg Jones, David Shanahan, Michael Lowry, Louis Ludik.
OSPREYS: Dan Evans; Luke Morgan, Cory Allen, Scott Williams, Keelan Giles; Luke Price, Matthew Aubrey; Rhodri Jones, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, Lloyd Ashley, James King, Dan Lydiate (capt), Olly Cracknell, Gareth Evans.
Replacements: Scott Otten, Gareth Thomas, Gheorghe Gajion, Sam Cross, Dan Baker, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Cai Evans, Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Italy)
Pre-Match Quotes: Jack McGrath (Ulster) –
I’m loving the new challenge. I think at this stage of my career it’s the right thing to do. I’ve only been here (at Ulster) two weeks but I’m loving every minute of it. It’s a really great environment to be in.
“Anywhere you leave it’s incredibly tough and it’s especially hard when you’ve been in the one place for such a long time. When I spoke to Dan (McFarland) I loved every aspect that he came to me with, and it was an opportunity to step outside the box and challenge myself.
“For a squad to be challenging for trophies you need strength in depth in every position and I’m still learning from other people and they’re learning off me. (Missing the World Cup), it’s massively disappointing when you get that phone call from Joe (Schmidt) and you are down for a couple of days after it.
“But I sat down and stepped back from it and thought about the new challenge going up to Ulster and the opportunity to hit the ground running from the start there in the PRO14. I can get a lot of games under my belt.
“And just get back to playing rugby because I didn’t play enough rugby last season. It was a very frustrating time. For me it represents a chance to take the positives, get ball in hand and hopefully remain injury-free. Friday can’t come quickly enough.”
Allen Clarke (Ospreys) –
It’s been a long pre-season. We certainly feel that there’s been a very good attitude amongst the players, the content has been good and they’ve worked hard.
“It’s been exciting to work with some of our younger players and really try to grow the depth of our squad whilst embedding our attacking and defensive and set piece principles.
“It’s going to be a very challenging game against Ulster, but from our point of view we know what we’re about, we know what our approach is. Our aim is to deliver out there on the field and be the best version of ourselves.”
Top Scorers – 2018/19 GUINNESS PRO14: Ulster – Points: John Cooney 101; Tries: Rob Herring 8; Ospreys – Points: Sam Davies 153; Tries: Dan Evans 10
RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS:
Saturday, May 7, 2016 – Ospreys 26 Ulster 46, Liberty Stadium
Saturday, October 1, 2016 – Ulster 9 Ospreys 7, Kingspan Stadium
Saturday, April 29, 2017 – Ospreys 24 Ulster 10, Liberty Stadium
Friday, April 13, 2018 – Ulster 8 Ospreys 0, Kingspan Stadium
Sunday, May 20, 2018 – Champions Cup Play-Off: Ulster 35 Ospreys 17, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, February 15, 2019 – Ospreys 0 Ulster 8, Morganstone Brewery Field
MATCH FACTS:
– Ulster reached the semi-finals of the GUINNESS PRO14 last season with their only defeat in the last eight rounds of the regular season coming on a trip to Glasgow Warriors in April
– The Ulstermen have lost only once at Kingspan Stadium in any competition since February 2018: 22-15 to Connacht last October
– Ulster lost only one fixture against Welsh opponents last season, on a visit to the Scarlets in round 9
– The Ulstermen have been defeated on the opening weekend just once since 2009, at the Dragons in 2013
– The Ospreys finished off last season with five straight victories in the PRO14, including their Champions Cup qualification play-off against the Scarlets
– The Welshmen’s only victory over an Irish province since April 2018 was 22-17 against Connacht at Bridgend in October last year
– The Ospreys’ only defeat in round 1 in the last six seasons was to Ulster in Belfast in 2015
– Ulster have lost only one of their last seven encounters with the Ospreys: 24-10 at Liberty Stadium in April 2017. The Ospreys’ most recent victory at Kingspan Stadium was in February 2013