RICHIE MURPHY HAS indicated that Rob Baloucoune is in the mix for selection for Friday’s European Challenge Cup final shootout with Montpellier.
“Rob is doing well,” said Murphy.
“He’s back in full training. We’ll see where he gets to by the weekend.”
It would be a massive boost for Ulster to have the Ireland winger back on deck after not having featured since the final Six Nations fixture with Scotland back in March when he suffered an elbow injury which required surgery.
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The province’s bid to end their 20-year silverware drought may also bring back rower David McCann back into the side after his recovery from a shorter-term issue though there will seemingly no place for Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale who join Stuart McCloskey and Iain Henderson, the latter suspended, in missing out on this showpiece occasion.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement to go to a final,” said head coach Murphy of this weekend’s clash in Bilbao.
Richie Murphy with Glasgow's Franco Smith after last week's game. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“And we’ll make sure that we give the very best account of ourselves as we possibly can. With a lot of these players, it could be the first and it could be the last time they’re playing in a European Cup final.
“So, it’s really important that we attack the week like we always do.”
“From this group’s point of view, with the rugby that we’ve played throughout the season, I think we feel like we’ve a little bit of unfinished business and maybe we can try and do something special this Friday.”
Ulster missed out on the URC playoffs last weekend but would gain entry to next season’s Champions Cup should they be victorious at the San Mames Stadium.
“We wanted to still be in the quarter-finals of the league, but that’s been taken away from us,” said the Ulster head coach.
“You can’t just move on, you’ve got to address it. We played a really good team in Glasgow (last Friday) and we got right down to the end of the game and couldn’t quite get it done.
“There are plenty of things that we can do to make sure that we’re better next time, there are bits in that that we’ll really concentrate hard on, and try to fix this week in order to make sure we’re really good in the final.”
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Baloucoune in mix for Ulster selection for Challenge Cup final
RICHIE MURPHY HAS indicated that Rob Baloucoune is in the mix for selection for Friday’s European Challenge Cup final shootout with Montpellier.
“Rob is doing well,” said Murphy.
“He’s back in full training. We’ll see where he gets to by the weekend.”
It would be a massive boost for Ulster to have the Ireland winger back on deck after not having featured since the final Six Nations fixture with Scotland back in March when he suffered an elbow injury which required surgery.
The province’s bid to end their 20-year silverware drought may also bring back rower David McCann back into the side after his recovery from a shorter-term issue though there will seemingly no place for Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale who join Stuart McCloskey and Iain Henderson, the latter suspended, in missing out on this showpiece occasion.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement to go to a final,” said head coach Murphy of this weekend’s clash in Bilbao.
“And we’ll make sure that we give the very best account of ourselves as we possibly can. With a lot of these players, it could be the first and it could be the last time they’re playing in a European Cup final.
“So, it’s really important that we attack the week like we always do.”
“From this group’s point of view, with the rugby that we’ve played throughout the season, I think we feel like we’ve a little bit of unfinished business and maybe we can try and do something special this Friday.”
Ulster missed out on the URC playoffs last weekend but would gain entry to next season’s Champions Cup should they be victorious at the San Mames Stadium.
“We wanted to still be in the quarter-finals of the league, but that’s been taken away from us,” said the Ulster head coach.
“You can’t just move on, you’ve got to address it. We played a really good team in Glasgow (last Friday) and we got right down to the end of the game and couldn’t quite get it done.
“There are plenty of things that we can do to make sure that we’re better next time, there are bits in that that we’ll really concentrate hard on, and try to fix this week in order to make sure we’re really good in the final.”
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Challenge Cup Comeback Rugby Ulster