Ulster V Edinburgh

First topic message reminder :

Edinburgh Head Coach Richard Cockerill has named his team ahead of tomorrow night’s crucial Guinness PRO14 encounter with third-place Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium (Friday 16 February, kick-off 7.35pm) – live on BBC NI.

As Edinburgh search for their 15th win of the season in all competitions, the team selection includes five changes to the side who secured a last-gasp victory over Leinster last weekend.

In the back-three, Dougie Fife once again gets the nod at fullback. The Scotland sevens star is joined by wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Jason Harries, who starts his first league encounter since crossing the whitewash against Scarlets in round four of the competition.

An unchanged midfield sees Chris Dean partner last weekend’s match winner Mark Bennett, whilst Sam Hidalgo-Clyne returns to the starting XV to link-up with Jaco van der Walt at half-back.

In the front-row, Jordan Lay is named at loosehead and packs down alongside Murray McCallum and experienced hooker Neil Cochrane. Club captain Fraser McKenzie keeps his position in the second-row, as does Lewis Carmichael after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Leinster last weekend.

Number eight Cornell du Preez is welcomed back into the side from Scotland duty, whilst John Hardie returns to the fray to partner Bill Mata in the back-row.

Head Coach, Richard Cockerill said: “They have a good team and very strong squad, and they’ve had their difficulties for obvious reasons, but now it’s for us to go there and front up.

If we lose on Friday night, it’s not the end of our play-off hopes. For us it’s nice, as a team, that were putting ourselves in the position where we’re actually competing for play-offs - which is a step forward.

“I expect Ulster to be favourites and I expect them to be confident, but I’m also confident and I believe in our playing group.”



Edinburgh team to face Ulster in the Guinness PRO14 at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday 16 February (kick-off 7.35pm) – live on BBC NI.




15. Dougie Fife (98)



14. Jason Harries (6)

13. Mark Bennett (4)

12. Chris Dean (58)

11. Duhan van der Merwe (9)


10. Jaco van der Walt (9)

9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (101)



1. Jordan Lay (3)

2. Neil Cochrane (67)

3. Murray McCallum (34)

4. Fraser McKenzie (96) CAPTAIN

5. Lewis Carmichael (24)

6. Bill Mata (29)

7. John Hardie (25)

8. Cornell du Preez (96)



Replacements: 16. Cameron Fenton (7); 17. Rory Sutherland (58); 18. Eliot Millar Mills (2); 19. Magnus Bradbury (44); 20. Luke Crosbie (9); 21. Nathan Fowles (51); 22. Duncan Weir (26); 23. Glenn Bryce (31)

Maine man wrote:I've always thought he was a decent player. Probably end up at Bristol!

He was rumoured to go there but they recently announced an Aussie 9 so chances are he won't be

I think ulster are allergic to holding onto the ball.

Lots of huffing and puffing from Edinburgh but not overly imaginative and Ulster are just lining us up

marty2086 wrote:

neilthom7 wrote:I hope Curtis and Lowry are ready because we are going to find out if McPhillips is out any length of time

Lowrys injured is he not?

Quite right marty, so that mean's Curtis is literally the last fly half standing. I used to play ten at uni and club level, maybe I should dust the boots off

Edinburgh with loads of ball but zero creativity

Our 10 needs to put some chips over the top to keep ulster from running offside as Nigel isn't bothering

Gaaah we've had all the ball but done nothing with it and given away 2 soft penalties to keep Ulster ahead.

This game is there for the taking but we need to do more when we have the ball!

tigertattie wrote:Our 10 needs to put some chips over the top to keep ulster from running offside as Nigel isn't bothering

VDV hasn't had a good game. Time for Weir??

Another frustrating penalty - Ulster under a lot of pressure having gone backwards in attack and all we had to do was let them exit and go again

Our discipline has been woeful. Just play the game man!

20 mins and if we can stop giving Ulster outs with penalties then we can come back at this

That's more like it! SHC upping the pace and great line by Carmichael

The common denominator of ulster being gash and really gash is Ah You. He's just a liability.

Not sure it is the best decision to take SHC off - other than his strong performance he's also a much better kicker than VDW

And fowles is just a gobby wee naff

Ulster's exit strategy has been woeful.

Ednburgh Poopie their pants after taking the lead. Typical.

Marshall has been superb tonight

Is there a team in the world as bad as Edinburgh at contriving to actually loose a match

No idea what that penalty was for but Owens was sure of his decision at least!

Chunky Weir on for glory...

RDW_Scotland wrote:No idea what that penalty was for but Owens was sure of his decision at least!

Chunky Weir on for glory...

Edinburgh were under a microscope..

Marshall has been quality. He wouldn't be a bad option for Ireland next week but unfortunately injuries this season has counted against him.

VinceWLB wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:No idea what that penalty was for but Owens was sure of his decision at least!

Chunky Weir on for glory...

Edinburgh were under a microscope..

Was just about to say - Owens has been looking for a reason to penalise us whenever we've got in their 22

Stuff it. We don't deserve to win when we can't excecute a simple game

Marshall has tackled everything that moves tonight

5m scrum in the middle of the pitch - we need to take this!

Chunky Weir!!!!!!!

Fukit Fukit Fukit there goes the season.

Yess

Weir you beauty!

Amazing stuff for Edinburgh! Cockers doing a terrific job.

Massive applause to Ulster for defending to a man. The crowd were right behind their team the whole game too.

Edinburgh won that despite being utter knickers

Well Ulster you managed to somehow mess it up. Congratulations to Edinburgh though you were the better team and deserved the win.
Our season is falling apart just like our team

Just switched over just intime to see the Meatball. Well done again luvvies.

Well. That's that for this season.
Congratulations Edinburgh

Well played Edinburgh.

Well that was a Pro14 classic.

I will never be critical of the Meatball ever again!

Commiseration to the Ulster fans.

Brainless by Ulster. 4 minutes to go on Edinburgh's 10 metre line and nobody thought to kick to the corner and let Edinburgh play in their 22 to close the game out? Brainless game management.

Really feel the Ulster fans as I think injuries really had a bearing on that game. Heroic defending from Ulster at times but we made it easy to defend with a very simplistic attack, although that won us the game in the end.

There's something going on at Edinburgh this season and we had some luck on our side with meatball's kick to touch just sneaking out. - we have a good chance of making the playoffs now and who would have thought that at the start of the season!

Congratulations Edinburgh. When ulster where just outside the Edinburgh 22 with minutes remaining I was screaming at them to go for a drop goal. The lack of leaders on the pitch is baffling

Our big Fijian Mata had another huge game - when he first signed for Edinburgh he was pretty underwhelming, but he's an absolute beast now. I can see big clubs circling when his contract is up. Glad he's signed up for 2 more seasons!

Congratulations to Edinburgh, completely deserved the victory. Solomons added an edge and now Cockerill is getting another 20 per cent. Enjoy the Champions Cup next year!

It's sad to see how far Bowe has slipped from his former self, and it's a hard lesson for Ulster to realise all the years of no succession planning has finally caught up. Ulster may not win another game this season, especially if Gilroy and McPhillips are out. Can't see Gibbes hanging around to flog a dead horse, so Ulster still have plenty of falling to do.

Bowe's legs have gone. What's the word on Trimble?

Maine man wrote:Bowe's legs have gone. What's the word on Trimble?

His legs have gone as well, as have Henrys, as have P.Marshall.
Thanks lads but time to go

Hearing Trimble might even call it a day as well inspite of having 1 year on his contract.
If he stays he will only be a break glass option

Best team won, Gilroy and McPhillips injuries were crucial.
Having said that the difference in power in the forwards was stark - we never coped with Edinburgh pick and going around the breakdown.

Marshall was outstanding and showed why he should be lining up at 13 for Ireland next week.
He wont be but Farrell has NEVER put in a performance at that level, at least playing for an Irish side.

10 next week will be Cooney or Nelson.

Ulster are a couple of defeats away from playing in the European Challenge Cup.
Watch those ST numbers tumble - I know whole swaths of people who will not be renewing.

We are falling down a hole and I still cant see the bottom

Great win for Edinburgh. I have not seen the game yet, but looking forward to it.

Duncan Weir, who writes his scripts!

There are times when I hate being right

I turned round to my mate and said to him - they have brought Weir on because he has the kick on him to win the game

geoff999rugby wrote:

Maine man wrote:Bowe's legs have gone. What's the word on Trimble?

His legs have gone as well, as have Henrys, as have P.Marshall.
Thanks lads but time to go

Hearing Trimble might even call it a day as well inspite of having 1 year on his contract.
If he stays he will only be a break glass option

Best team won, Gilroy and McPhillips injuries were crucial.
Having said that the difference in power in the forwards was stark - we never coped with Edinburgh pick and going around the breakdown.

Marshall was outstanding and showed why he should be lining up at 13 for Ireland next week.
He wont be but Farrell has NEVER put in a performance at that level, at least playing for an Irish side.

10 next week will be Cooney or Nelson.

Ulster are a couple of defeats away from playing in the European Challenge Cup.
Watch those ST numbers tumble - I know whole swaths of people who will not be renewing.

We are falling down a hole and I still cant see the bottom

As an Edinburgh fan I can tell you there is still a long, long way to go until the bottom!

We're getting there !

A bit of me says not making the Champions Cup may just be the wake up call we need.
Even more worryingly a number of the better players may just up sticks and leave, especially as they are not getting
International rewards

Well dne the Kaffe Fassett Fan Club

Great to see Wee Dunkie get a bit of praise. I hope this helps him find a club before next season as it's painfully clear that he doesn't feature in Cocker's plans.
Can the Luvvies hold on to third spot? Last game of the season could it be that the rugby club already have a home semi (very likely) and the Men Who Moisturise need a win to make the play-offs.... oh the conspiracy theories that will come howling across the Irish see when DR rests most of his first XV for that one.

Not a chance - Munster have already promised to throw their game against us to compensate

Exciting game without the "side to side passing". Ulster defended heroically and man of the match was between Mata and Marshall for me. Both were phenomenal.

Edinburgh seemed to be on the front foot for the entire game barring 1 or 2 5 minute spells (I largely watched after the first 25 minutes). Ulster suffered from the injury bug and losing McPhillips for the 9 that came on was a big blow. Cooney is now Ulster's most important player and will manage the game if Ulster do not bring in another 10. The pack was beaten up against a big and mean Cockerill-coached pack. Even so, they kept it tight and managed to protect the try line brilliantly for much of the match.

Edinburgh need to cut out some of the silly mistakes. If your forwards are bullying the opposition, there is no need for subtlety especially when you are not good at it. Ulster defended manfully and deserve credit, but this is the next step of Cockerill's evolution. The good thing is that in the last few years, this is the sort of game Edinburgh go on to lose and they managed to turn it around with a 10 who is being herded off to Worcester for his struggles. Cockerill has instilled a winning mentality with 2 close wins in a row. The test comes against the Dragons away next week who are a small name playing well at the moment. They have to follow up a good performance.

Quick mention of Carmichael who has not had much playing time. He had a great game and made Cockerill's decision to let Bresler go to Worcester early look a well informed decision. He took his try well and worked hard in the loose. Sutherland also is starting to look better after his injury layoff.

Hazel - we barely touched the ball in the first 15 minutes or so - it was all Ulster. When we got the ball we gave it away almost immediately and barely strung more than 3 phases together.

It probably isn't a coincidence that our change in fortune coincided with Ulster losing their 10, who has been playing very well.