The UAFC

Matt Williams today named a 22man squad from which he will select his starting line up to take on the Queensland Reds at Ravenhill on Friday 22nd August, KO, 19.30.

Included in the line up are two former Reds players, Ed O’Donoghue and Clinton Schifcofske, both players arrived with Ulster during the pre season build up and proved themselves on the pitch against Bath last weekend. O’Donoghue has settled into life in Belfast well and the strong lock is looking forward to playing against his old team mates,
“I didn’t think I would play against any Southern Hemisphere teams here in Ulster let alone the Reds, but I am really looking forward to the game. I enjoyed the Bath game, it was tough going at times and I can definitely see why the lads talk about the Ravenhill factor on match night, the crowd were brilliant.”
Also included in the squad are Irish Internationals Bryan Young, Rory Best, Isaac Boss and Paddy Wallace, all four players were rested last week following on from the Irish training camp in Cork the week before.
Ian Humphreys is named in the squad and the former Ballymena Academy pupil and Leicester fly half will be eager to be involved in his first game for the senior Ulster side.
Ulster Coach Matt Williams is looking forward to the fixture and watching his new recruits in action again,
“Clinton has a wealth of experience and what we are looking from him is that leadership as well as knowledge about the ELVs. Ed O’Donoghue is also an experienced guy who has been about a bit and is an abrasive player.
We were pleased with the performance on Friday against Bath but we have a lot of work still to do and these friendlies are a great opportunity to see how the players are progressing and give the younger guys a chance as well. The Magners League is just weeks away and we are determined to make a vast improvement on our results from last season. We didn’t have a good time last season. Winning the Magners League and getting to the knock-out stages of Europe isn’t beyond this squad.”

Tickets are still available for the game, you can buy them online at http://www.ulsterrugby.com over the counter at Ravenhill or by calling 02890493222 Option 2.

Tickets will also be available on the gate but supporters are advised that it is cheaper to pre buy tickets.
ULSTER SQUAD
ULSTER SQUAD FORWARDS

Bryan Young; Rory Best; Tom Court, Ed O’Donoghue ,Carlo Del Fava, Matt McCullough, David Pollock, Robbie Diack ,Neil Hanna, Jarlath Carey,

ULSTER SQUAD BACKS

Simon Danielli; Isaac Boss; Ian Humphreys, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Timoci Nagusa, Clinton Schifcofske, Thomas Anderson, Cillian Willis, Rob Dewey, Bryn Cunningham, Simon Danielli

I assume UR has made a mistake by naming T Anderson in the backs....

Is Trimble still in post-op recovery?

THEY SEEM TO HAVE CHANGED IT

ULSTER SQUAD
ULSTER SQUAD FORWARDS

Bryan Young; Rory Best; Tom Court, Ed O’Donoghue ,Carlo Del Fava, Matt McCullough, David Pollock, Robbie Diack ,Neil Hanna, Jarlath Carey,Thomas Anderson

ULSTER SQUAD BACKS

Simon Danielli; Isaac Boss; Ian Humphreys, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Timoci Nagusa, Clinton Schifcofske, Cillian Willis, Rob Dewey, Bryn Cunningham, TBC

1F and Caldy are missing from this squad as well, any reports of injuries ?

I heard at the Bath match that Caldy was injured and that the prognosis was not good. Don't know about 1F.

Tevez wrote:I heard at the Bath match that Caldy was injured and that the prognosis was not good. Don't know about 1F.

Cheers Tevez, hope Caldy gets sorted out, he might be a bit of a maverick but hate to think he would be out of playing.

Tevez wrote:I heard at the Bath match that Caldy was injured and that the prognosis was not good. Don't know about 1F.

Anyone know what is wrong with Caldy?

WhiteKnightSupporter wrote:Anyone know what is wrong with Caldy?

Discipline

has willies son changed from backrow to the backs????

just canvasing your opinion, who on this squad would get into the munster 15?

downsouthdukin wrote:has willies son changed from backrow to the backs????

just canvasing your opinion, who on this squad would get into the munster 15?

A good lot of them

downsouthdukin wrote:
just canvasing your opinion, who on this squad would get into the munster 15?

You can start off with the first choice Irish hooker

Will be interested to see how Ed O’Donoghue plays this week as i thought he was the stand out player last week and if he does keep to that standard it won't matter if Caldwell is injured or not as he will not be in the team. Also hoping that Chris Henry and Tommy Anderson get a bit more game time as they also looked good on Friday night. With our first choice wingers in Danielli and Nagusa playing on Friday we should see a hatful of trys ( fingers crossed anyway. ) The backrow is a good blend of youth in Diack and Pollock and a wise old head in Matt McCullough and should provide a good bases for the backs to play an exciting style of rugby. Will be interested to see how Boss and Humph Jnr perform as this will probably be the half back pairing for the start of the season (even though I thought Willis had a good game last Friday .) All in all a stronger team than the previous friendly and with the likes of Botha, Ferris and Trimble still to come into the equation Ithink we could do rather well this season even Matt Williams thinks so

We were pleased with the performance on Friday against Bath but we have a lot of work still to do and these friendlies are a great opportunity to see how the players are progressing and give the younger guys a chance as well. The Magners League is just weeks away and we are determined to make a vast improvement on our results from last season. We didn’t have a good time last season. Winning the Magners League and getting to the knock-out stages of Europe isn’t beyond this squad.”

downsouthdukin asks

just canvasing your opinion, who on this squad would get into the munster 15?

personally think our front five would be a match for Munster's and secondly can't think of to many Munstermen that i would have playing for Ulster ( Kerney and Howlett aside )

Be interesting to see a return of the Fizzio bench - what is the score on Caldwell, Ferris and Trimble, when are they gonna be available etc.?

Its an exciting squad for Friday. Good to see some of the younger players getting a chnace again. Can only be good for their confidence. Diack and Ed readlly do look the business. Looking forword to seeing jnr humph get a run out as has the potential to be a great player. Thought we might see Marshall in this squad considering he only got 6mins at the end of the 1st half last week.