ULSTER HEAD COACH Dan McFarland has made six changes to his side as he bids to end a mini-tour to South Africa with victory against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein tomorrow (kick-off 18.15 Irish time, Premier Sports and eir Sport).
The northern province finished strong to beat the Southern Kings 7-28 on Sunday, with 19-year-old wing Angus Kernohan among the scorers as Ulster fell short of a bonus point.
Kernohan, who will turn 20 in March, earns his place among the starters after the five-day turnaround, with Henry Speight shifted to the centre in place of Darren Cave. Will Addison is back in the starting line-up with Peter Nelson making way from fullback.
John Cooney, who suffered a nasty laceration on his head on Sunday, is not among the 23.
In the pack, Rob Herring and his locks are retained while the props are freshened up with the call for Wiehahn Herbst and Eric O’Sullivan – the academy prop making his first start.
Marcell Coetzee and Sean Reidy remain in the back row, though the Springbok shifts to number eight with Matty Rea displacing Nick Timoney.
Ulster (v Cheetahs)
15. Will Addison
14. Craig Gilroy
13. Henry Speight
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Angus Kernohan
10. Billy Burns
9. Dan D Shanahan
1. Eric O’Sullivan
2. Rob Herring (captain)
3. Wieahahn Herbst
4. Alan O’Connor
5. Kieran Treadwell
6. Matty Rea
7. Sean Reidy
8. Marcell Coetzee
Replacements
16. John Andrew
17. Andrew Warwick
18. Tom O’Toole
19. Jean Deysel
20. Nick Timoney
21 Jonny Stewart
22. Angus Curtis
23. Darren Cave
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Maybe that’s why football in cork is the way it is… To find a loss very degrading against Kildare would make you imagine that it was a div four team that beat them…. Actions are bigger than words. When this group of pretty talented cork players play to their potential well then they can talk above their station, but then again potential is only a word…. #bottlers
I don’t think he meant losing to Kildare was degrading. It was the manner of defeat and the fact that they didn’t perform to their potential that upset him.
I’ve been watching Kildare since I could walk and that was the most accurate performance I ever saw. I’ve no idea where it came from but their foot-passing, score-taking and decision making were better than even our best days. I think we’d have beaten nearly anyone that night. Everything we tried worked. I don’t think it was down to lack of pressure from Cork ‘cos even when we’ve hammered lower division teams before we’ve not looked like that.