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Join Date: Nov 2009
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Ulster v. Bath:
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Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has named an unchanged 27 man squad for Ulster's final Heineken Cup Pool game. Ulster will travel to face Bath, at The Recreation Grounds, on Saturday 23 January, kick off 3.45pm.
Ulster currently sit in second place in Pool 4 on 13 points. Stade Francais lead the pool on 17 points with Edinburgh in third place on 9. Bath head into the last game in fourth place on seven points.
Commenting on Ulster's crucial European game, McLaughlin said: 'We said one of our aims at the start of the season was to be heading into our final pool game in the European Cup, with something to play for, and that's exactly what we have done.
'So all credit to the players. They have done that and they deserve to be going to Bath with something major at stake.
'Hopefully, with a good week under us and confidence levels built even higher, we can go across there and get that elusive win on English soil.
'Heineken Cup rugby is very, very special. It's just a different standard. It's very important to Ulster; the players are all focus on their game and the task ahead of them.
'We know how tough a challenge it's going to be playing Bath away, so we're going over there anticipating a very hard game. We will make sure our preparations are thorough. We will be ready from them come Saturday.
'An away win in Europe is something we need in order to take our belief in ourselves up to the next level and to let others see that we are a team that's steadily improving.'
Ulster Squad to face Bath at the Recreation in Grounds in the Heineken Cup on 13 January 2010:
Forwards:
Bryan Young, Tom Court, Andi Kyriacou, Nigel Brady, Brendon Botha, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ed O'Donoghue, Ryan Caldwell, Neil McComb, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Dan Touhy, Willie Faloon, Thomas Anderson, David Pollock.
Backs:
Clinton Schifcofske, Timoci Nagusa, Simon Danielli, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss, Jamie Smith, Niall O'Connor, Cillian Willis.
The team will be announced at 12 noon on Friday.
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RTÉ Sport: Ulster squad named for Bath encounter
Lianelli v. Brive:
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A rousing home win over London Irish last weekend has cheered the Scarlets, and they require all five points in France this weekend to ensure their European season continues.
A dangling carrot for the Magners League side as they prepare to take on Brive in Pool 6 is the possibility of overhauling the Exiles in second and booking a place in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.
Their perilous domestic position makes Heineken Cup qualification next season far from assured and Nigel Davies' men will go all out to ensure that their European campaign is extended.
British & Irish Lions fly-half Stephen Jones returns to action following a shoulder injury and he partners Martin Roberts at halfback. Centre Jonathan Davies scored a brace last weekend and starts outside Jones, while flanker Rob McCusker did the same and is again included in the back-row.
Daniel Evans continues at fullback, with the return of Jones meaning that Rhys Priestland drops to the bench. In another boost for Wales ahead of the Six Nations, he is joined there by Lions hooker Matthew Rees.
Brive: TBC
Scarlets: Daniel Evans, Morgan Stoddart, Sean Lamont, Jon Davies, Andrew Fenby, Stephen Jones, Martin Roberts, Iestyn Thomas, Ken Owens, Deacon Manu, Damian Welch, Dominic Day, Rob McCusker, Josh Turnbull, David Lyons
Replacements: Matthew Rees, Phil John, Rhys Thomas, Lou Reed, Jon Edwards, Lee Williams, Rhys Priestland, Gareth Maule
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Jones and Rees bolster Scarlets | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby Preview | Scrum.com
And a revenge match?
Perpignan v. Treviso:
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With both sides out of contention in the race for a quarter-final spot, Perpignan's meeting with Benetton Treviso at the Stade Aime Giral on Friday has all the hallmarks of a revenge mission for the French champions.
In the opening round Treviso produced the biggest upset of the season by turning over their illustrious visitors 9-8, and Perpignan failed to recover from their early blow. Last weekend both sides suffered heavy defeats, with Perpignan being nilled by Northampton and Treviso coming unstuck against Munster, and pride is very much the order of the day.
Perpignan welcome back their heavyweight No.8 Henry Tuilagi to their back-row, with skipper Jean-Pierre Perez also starting. Rimas Alvarez Kairelis adds his bulk to the second-row alongside Yohan Vivalda. In the backs, Nicolas Laharrague returns at fly-half and David Marty and Jean-Philippe Grandclaude are drafted into the centre.
Italian international Luke McLean starts at fullback for Treviso and is joined in the starting XV by powerful centre Gonzalo Garcia. Workhorse hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini starts up front and flanker Alessandro Zanni is again given a shot in the back-row after picking up an intercept try against Munster.
Perpignan: J Michel, C Manas, D Marty, J Grandclaude, F Sid, N Laharrague, F Cazenave, S Chobet, C Geli, K Pulu, Y Vivalda, R Alvarez Kairelis, G Britz, J Perez, H Tuilagi
Replacements: M Tincu, P Freshwater, N Mas, R Tchale Watchou, D Mele, G Hume, J Porical, D Chouly
Benetton Treviso: L McLean, E Mulieri, A Sgarbi, G Garcia, A Vilk, M Goosen, S Picone, M Rizzo, L Ghiraldini, I Fernandez Rouyet, A Pavanello, C van Zyl, B Vermaak , A Zanni, D Kingi
Replacements: F Sbaraglini, A Allori, P di Santo, E Pavanello, S Orlando, F Semenzato, T Botes, B de Jager
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Perpignan out for revenge | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby Preview | Scrum.com |