ULSTER CAPTAIN RORY Best has shaken off an ankle knock to lead his province in Saturday’s Pro14 quarter-final against Connacht (kick-off 17.35, eir Sport).
With the Ireland skipper set to hang up his boots after this year’s World Cup, Best will hope to prolong his playing time with Ulster by helping his side to victory. However, tomorrow will mark his final match at Ravenhill with the semi-final and final set for Glasgow.
However, star wing Jacob Stockdale will not feature in the knockout tie as he has failed to recover from a hamstring issue. Rob Lyttle instead fills the left wing berth of a young back three completed by Mike Lowry and Robert Baloucoune.
Among the wholesale changes from the win over Leinster, Iain Henderson, Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee return to bolster the pack behind Best, who will pack down between Eric O’Sullivan and Ross Kane.
On the bench, Darren Cave will also wave farewell to the Kingspan Stadium ahead of his summer retirement, while Sean Reidy has passed through return to play protocols after failing a HIA in the wake of being headbutted by Fergus McFadden last Saturday.
See Connacht’s team-sheet here.
Ulster (v Connacht)
15. Mike Lowry
14. Robert Baloucoune
13. Luke Marshall
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Rob Lyttle
10. Billy Burns
9. John Cooney
1. Eric O’Sullivan
2. Rory Best (Capt)
3. Ross Kane
4. Iain Henderson
5. Kieran Treadwell
6. Nick Timoney
7. Jordi Murphy
8. Marcell Coetzee
Replacements
16. Rob Herring
17. Andy Warwick
18. Tom O’Toole
19. Alan O’Connor
20. Sean Reidy
21. Dave Shanahan
22. Darren Cave
23. Angus Kernohan
Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella are joined by Andy Dunne to discuss all the week’s rugby news.:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
You liat the KO at 14:30…. isn’t it 15:00? I’m booked in for a full head of highlights at 1 and won’t make a half 2 kick off……
@Bungee Aky: no it’s been changed to 2:30! You’d wanna tell the hairdresser to get a move on
@Boo Radley: you can’t rush perfection
Anybody got an update on the Bill Johnston move to Ulster? Asking for a friend.
@Jim Demps: is your friend Rochelle?
@Bungee Aky: don’t be silly Rochelle has no friends
@Jim Demps: is it a case of use it or lose it.
@Chris Mc: I’m all for it, hope it’s happening. It’d be a great move for him, Ulster and for munster.
@Jim Demps: I’m not sure how it’s good for munster but he does need rugby at this stage.
@Chris Mc: no point in having a 28, 26, 23 and 22 year old all vying for the same position. If Johnston moves on we’ve got a good balance there. At the moment with carbery the same age as him Johnston isn’t going to be given a fair chance so a move will suit him. For munster they can break in Ben Healy and give him the exposure as a young talent. It’s too easy for people to look at Johnston and say he was never given a chance but you can’t ignore his injuries. Two dislocated shoulders and a broken leg for a 22 year old is an awful lot of injuries and it’s bound to slow down his progression. Van Graan has shown that he will give young talent the chance it needs and I’d expect that to continue.
@Jim Demps: fair enough.
@Jim Demps: ‘exposure as a young talent’
When are you going to see what happens at Munster??
@Andrew H: I see it every game I go to Andrew. I’ve seen wycherley, loughman, Shane Daly, Gavin Coombes, o Connor and more all excel. You’re just using Bill Johnston as a tired old excuse to beat munster with. Too easy to compare young lads to Ryan and larmour, once in a generation talents who have as much international as club games under their belt. Try comparing them to their peers, Conor o brien to goggin, josh Murphy to wycherley, abdaladze to loughman and the picture might be a bit clearer for you.
2:30pm? My ticket says 3pm
@Thomyk: game will be over by then and Munsters season finished.
@Bungee Aky: could be right there lad , win r lose it’s supporting them that matters
@Thomyk: naw, nothing beats winning, you just forgot that it’s been so long
@Bungee Aky: won last Saturday pal , and I’m fairly sure we won a few games this season to, so maybe your talking through your anus now ?
Are you two done? Now up to your rooms and do your homework and leave your phones down.
@Thomyk: winning wars not battles
@Bungee Aky: grow a brain
Should be a belter and intimacy of the RDS for such a big game is again great as opposed to 3/4 full Aviva. Re KO info came out earlier for 2.30 KO on PRO14 Twitter
“Semi-Final KO Update: @leinsterrugby v @Munsterrugby to kick off at 14:30 on Saturday May 18 – live on @eirSport & @PremierSportsTV
#GuinnessPRO14”
@mrbryanrussell: if lowe plays it could be a rout
@Eoin Murphy: don’t think so, one thing is for certain let’s hope they don’t get sucked in like last time and focus on getting the job done. Should be a great match hopefully JVdF is back in the squad too as well as Joey
Will be tough for Leinster. Either they’ll all be hungover after winning the European cup, or in a sad shitty mood with no desire to play.
@sup: They’re highly motivated to do the double and if they lose to Saracens their determination will be even greater to win a trophy this season.