[tag=image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... Toulon.png[/tag][tag=content]How long have we been waiting for this one?
I’m going to forget about last week as there was a lot of divided opinion on here about it. Personally I think we did extremely well to deny them the bonus point and gain one of our own – let’s leave it at that. Meanwhile over in the south of France, tomorrow’s opponents made hard work of putting away the Scarlets, who to their credit were brilliant on the day, and proved that the two-time champions can indeed be defeated.
True, the Scarlets didn’t actually win as such, but they did remarkably well to limit a star-studded Toulon side to just three tries, and exposed several glaring weaknesses in the defending champions’ armour. Mainly what happens when you close down Matt Giteau – without their go-to man at 10, Toulon begin to look rather passive in attack.
However it’s one thing saying that we can stop them, it’s another thing doing it. If it was as easy to stop Toulon from being so good then they wouldn’t be defending European and French champions, both of which were thoroughly deserved make no doubt about it. So whenever I say if we are anything but perfect this week then we will lose, I really do mean it.
Whether you agree or disagree with Mourad Boudjellal that waving around fat stacks of Euro in players’ faces is the right way to build a team, you can’t argue with that kind of success. It’s not even a case of a bunch of big names stuck together in the hope that they gel because it is evident that they do and they work very well together. Maybe it does put everybody else at a disadvantage, but then again it also encourages sides to raise their standards too.
And possibly that’s what we’re relying on – our big game players to step up to the plate and have a few good swings at a side that is beatable, no matter how much everyone builds them up. For, like all French teams, they do not travel very well and are susceptible to being distinctly off-colour away from the Felix Mayol. And as I mentioned before, neutralise Giteau early on and the Aussie international’s impact on the game will be greatly less, and highly detrimental to Toulon’s gameplan.
Let’s not kid ourselves though, last week’s defeat puts the pressure firmly on us. Leicester got the vital home win they required to put themselves on the front foot and now we need to do the same to make sure we head into the head-to-heads with the Scarlets on at least 5 points. This pool is still there for the taking and could we even do the impossible and deny Toulon even a losing bonus point, then we will be in a phenomenal position going into December.
So it’d be a good time for us to finally click. Glasgow we came close. Leicester was a step back in the first half, but in the second half we finally found some sort of form and nearly clinched a remarkable draw. This week there is no room for error – we have to click from the first minute and hit them like a runaway train otherwise they will hurt us badly. But we are Ulster, and we know that anything is possible at the Kingspan Stadium.
Two changes for Ulster, the first being at inside centre with Stuart Olding replacing namesake Stuart McCloskey who drops out of the 23 altogether. The other change is in the forwards where Roger Wilson and Nick Williams are rotated once again in the back row. Ian Humphreys is elevated to a bench spot.
Bernard Laporte, having been named the coach of the Top14 XV to face the Barbarians in a few weeks, has made seven changes to the team that played the Scarlets last week. Winger David Smith is forced out due to injury so Delon Armitage comes into the starting line-up while scrum-half Michael Claassens replaces Sébastien Tillous-Borde. Alexandre Menini and Guilhem Guirado are promoted from the bench to join captain Carl Hayman in the front row, while there are two new locks in Jocelino Suta and Romain Taofifénua. Juan Smith is also dropped to the bench with Chris Masoe taking his place in the back row.
This is where the new Champions’ Cup comes to the fore. No longer are there any easy games (well, bar Treviso) and ours gets as big as it comes. If we ever needed to front up, it’s now, and if we replicate anything close to the first half performance from the Leicester match then we will be in for a very long afternoon. But if we as supporters can get behind our boys from the first whistle and let Toulon know that they are against sixteen men rather than fifteen then maybe we stand a chance.
Three months of waiting are over. Let’s go.
Ulster Rugby vs. RC Toulon
Saturday 25th October, 13:00
Kingspan Stadium
European Rugby Champions’ Cup – Pool Game 2
Live on Sky Sports 2
ULSTER RUGBY
15. Louis Ludik, 14. Tommy Bowe, 13. Jared Payne, 12. Stuart Olding, 11. Craig Gilroy, 10. Paddy Jackson, 9. Paul Marshall; 1. Andrew Warwick, 2. Rory Best (capt.), 3. Wiehahn Herbst, 4. Lewis Stevenson, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 6. Robbie Diack, 7. Chris Henry, 8. Roger Wilson.
16. Rob Herring, 17. Callum Black, 18. Declan Fitzpatrick, 19. Clive Ross, 20. Nick Williams, 21. Michael Heaney, 22. Ian Humphreys, 23. Darren Cave.
RC TOULON
15. Leigh Halfpenny, 14. Delon Armitage, 13. Mathieu Bastareaud, 12. Maxime Mermoz, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Matt Giteau, 9. Michael Claassens; 1. Alexandre Menini, 2. Guilhem Guirado, 3. Carl Hayman (capt.), 4. Jocelino Suta, 5. Romain Taofifénua, 6. Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 7. Steffon Armitage, 8. Chris Masoe.
16. Craig Burden, 17. Fabien Barcella, 18. Levan Chilachava, 19. Bakkies Botha, 20. James O’Connor, 21. Ali Williams, 22. Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 23. Juan Smith.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Nigel Carrick (both England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Timekeeper: Scottie Rankin (Ireland)
Assessor: John Coyle (Ireland)[/tag]
Match Preview: Ulster Rugby vs. RC Toulon
Moderator: Moderators
