FRIDAY NIGHT UNDER the lights at a sold-out Ravenhill, Champions Cup rugby returns tonight and Ulster have been building steadily towards this fixture for a number of weeks now — they know a fast start is absolutely essential.
Failure to reach the knockout stages of the competition in each of the last three seasons, Ulster’s European credentials have been seriously dented of late and anything less than a victory on the opening night against Wasps [KO 7.45pm, BT Sport 1] will leave them facing a steep uphill battle going forward.
Les Kiss’ side need a big performance at home against last year’s Premiership finalists, although this does appear to be an opportune time to face Wasps, who have struggled domestically in the early stages of the season and arrive in Belfast having lost four of their opening six outings.
Wasps were condemned to their heaviest defeat to Saracens last week when they were without as many as 15 players through injury, but captain Joe Launchbury, England international Nathan Hughes and former Leinster out-half Jimmy Gopperth all return to ease that particular crisis.
Ulster, too, will have to deal without several key players of their own with Lions Rory Best and Jared Payne still unavailable and Marcell Coetzee and Chris Henry both big losses in the backrow. Craig Gilroy remains a long-term absentee with a back problem.
Iain Henderson will captain Ulster for the first time while the blossoming half-back pair of John Cooney and Christian Lealiifano will make their Champions Cup debuts for the province. Once again, they will need to play a big part.
Charles Piutau starts at fullback against his old club and there will be two familiar faces in the Wasps dressing room with former Leinster centre Brendan Macken getting his chance in midfield and prop Marty Moore named among the replacements.
Significant too is the contrasting preparation time each of the sides have had coming into the game with Ulster having a full seven days to ready themselves for a tilt at Europe while Wasps come into the game on the back of a reduced five-day turnaround.
“I am sure they will be very strong coming here,” Ulster backs coach Dwayne Peel said earlier in the week.
“I’ve watched their games the last couple of weeks and they’ll have a few guys back from injury so they will be pretty loaded coming here.”
The English side have enjoyed the better of the fixture down the years, but this Pool 1 meeting will the first between them in 16 seasons.Wasps’ record shows five wins from the six European fixtures, with Ulster’s sole bit of success against tonight’s opposition coming back in the 2001/02 season.
But Ulster have an encouraging home record against English teams in European competition having won 13 of the last 17 games and in addition, Wasps have now lost six of their last seven games away to the Irish provinces, including defeats to Connacht (pool stage) and Leinster (quarter-final) last season.
“The Kingspan Stadium is a great venue to play rugby, as I always found during my time coaching Cardiff, and our squad really enjoyed the atmosphere there in our pre-season game. It’s a fantastic stadium, always ram-packed and the supporters really get behind the team,” Wasps’ director of rugby, Dai Young, said.
“Ulster have a quality squad, with threats throughout, so you have to be at your best if you are to get a result there. We’ve parked the Premiership to one side for now and we’re really looking forward to getting stuck into a new tournament. We’ve dusted ourselves down and it’s a good time for us to switch to a new competition with the slate wiped clean.
“We go to Belfast with a smile on our faces, ready to enjoy the experience as that’s when we play our best rugby. If we can produce the standard of rugby we know we’re capable of, there’s no reason why we can’t get a result.”
The result is everything for Ulster.
Winning your home games is a prerequisite and although Pool 1 gives the impression that it could be one of the more open groups, Ulster will want to hit the ground running and lay down an early marker. There isn’t really any margin for error.
An opening night defeat to Bordeaux-Begles 12 months ago ultimately set the tone for the campaign that was to follow as Kiss’ men finished bottom of their pool and Peel acknowledged the significance of coming out of the blocks quickly tonight.
“I think in any pool you need a good start and you must win your homes games,” he added.
“There’s no doubt this is a big game for us in terms of the pool context and the competition as a whole. That brings pressure in itself, but within that pressure brings excitement. Hopefully we’re up for it on Friday.”
A lot will rest on the ball-carrying ability of Springbok Jean Deysel, the power and industry of Iain Henderson around the fringes and whether the half-back pair can provide Ulster’s potentially explosive backline with enough quality service.
Ulster have shown glimpses of improvement in several facets of their game this season, notably a better shape and fluency to their attack while also adding more structure to their phase play and set-piece.
The shock Pro14 defeat to Zebre is the only blot on an otherwise encouraging early-season report card with Jacob Stockdale and Stuart McCloskey, in particular, excelling during the opening weeks.
Tonight represents a significant step-up but the right performance and result could just prove to be the spark Ulster require to truly set their season alight.
Ulster:
15. Charles Piutau
14. Louis Ludik
13. Luke Marshall
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Christian Lealiifano
9. John Cooney
1. Kyle McCall
2. Rob Herring
3. Wiehahn Herbst
4. Kieran Treadwell
5. Iain Henderson (captain)
6. Robbie Diack
7. Sean Reidy
8. Jean Deysel
Replacements:
16. John Andrew
17. Callum Black
18. Rodney Ah You
19. Matthew Rea
20. Clive Ross
21. Paul Marshall
22. Peter Nelson
23. Tommy Bowe
Wasps:
15. Willie Le Roux
14. Christian Wade
13. Elliot Daly
12. Brendan Macken
11. Josh Bassett
10. Jimmy Gopperth
9. Dan Robson
1. Matt Mullan
2. Tom Cruse
3. Jake Cooper-Woolley
4. Joe Launchbury (captain)
5. Will Rowlands
6. James Haskell
7. Thomas Young
8. Nathan Hughes
Replacements:
16. Ashley Johnson
17. Simon McIntyre
18. Marty Moore
19. James Gaskell
20. Jack Willis
21. Joe Simpson
22. Rob Miller
23. Marcus Watson
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU).
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