Form points to a victory for Ulster

ULSTER go the Gnoll today to take on the reigning Welsh League champions, Neath in the Heineken European Cup with the incentive of keeping their hopes of qualification for the quarter final alive.

Leinster's mission when they meet Borders in Melrose is of a different dimension. Leinster are seeking their initial win in Pool B with prestige their spur, as realistically, they look out of contention having lost both their group matches. But Leinster are not yet ready to concede all hope is lost.

Connacht, meanwhile, travel to take on Toulon in the European Conference tomorrow. Connacht are out of contention for a place in the knockout stages having won just one of their three matches. With only one team from each Pool qualifying for the semi final, as opposed to two from each pool qualifying for the quarter finals of the cup, neither Connacht nor Toulon will catch Northampton the pool leaders.

Ulster with one win, over Caledonia and a narrow defeat against Harlequins, take on a Neath team that has lost two of the three matches they have played and today complete their pool matches. A win today will leave Ulster playing Brive at Ravenhill next week with a place in the quarter final the prize.

Apart from the crucial pool points that are at issue, there is another very important incentive for the Irish players. The Ireland team to meet Western Samoa at Lansdowne Road on November 12th is being selected on Wednesday night - it will be announced on Thursday morning - and an Ireland A team to meet the junior Springboks will also be chosen.

With selection of those teams in mind, Ireland manager Pat Whelan and selectors Donal Lenihan and Joe Miles will be in Neath this afternoon. The Ireland coach Murray Kidd and selector Frank Sowman will be in Melrose.

The return of their international centres Mark McCall and Maurice Field represents a great plus for Ulster today and enables James Topping to revert to his normal wing berth. The unavailability of Paddy Johns in the second row is unfortunate but Gary Longwell is a useful deputy. The Ulster pack certainly looks good enough to win a good ratio of possession and their back line with David Humphreys at outside half should be able to capitalise on it.

Beating any Welsh side on their home soil always represents a tough assignment, but if Ulster can rekindle the form and the spirit that very nearly upset Harlequins, then victory today could be attainable. If it is achieved then a quarter final place in the cup will be alive prospect when they meet Brive this day week.

This has been a very disappointing season for Leinster, especially in contrast to the success they enjoyed last year. The defeats by, Llanelli and Leicester leave Leinster needing some very unlikely results in other matches and the equivalent of a statistical miracle to qualify. But they will, for all that, be very anxious to salvage something from the competition when they meet Borders in Melrose. They face a tough assignment, however, against a team that had already beaten Llanelli in this competition.

Melrose players form the backbone of the Borders team and the back line looks especially formidable including Bryan Redpath and Craig Chalmers at half back and Scotland internationals Tony Stanger and Scot Nichol in the centre. But Borders have had problems upfront, and the only international in their pack is back row Carl Hogg. Leicester did a demolition job on the Borders pack last week, and Leinster could also exploit that forward weakness.

This is a match of crucial importance to Leinster scrum half Niall Hogan. He has been kept out of the Leinster team by Main Rolland and a good performance this afternoon is imperative for Hogan if he is to retain his place on the national team. So he must make the best use of the possession that comes his way and form an effective partnership with Alan McGowan, who will need to be more productive with his place kicking than he was against Leicester.

Connacht face a very difficult task in Toulon in a group that is headed by Northampton, who are odds on favourites to win it. Toulon's only loss was to Northampton and Toulon stand in second place. But so vastly inferior is their points difference to Northampton that even if Northampton were to slip up and lose a match, Toulon would still not make it into the semi finals.

Connacht did reasonably well against Northampton last week, but today will be without their scorer in chief and most influential back, outside half Eric Elwood. This gives Owen Cobbe an opportunity. Billy Mulcahy returns at hooker and Kevin Devlin and Neil Taylor come into the back row.

Toulon had a very narrow win over Orrell last week and today will be without their four French internationals. They are outside half cum centre Yann Delaigue, scrum half Aubin Hueber, their captain and hooker Marc De Rougement and prop Michel Perie. But they include several `A' nationals in their side.

The expectation must be a win on their home ground for Toulon who are likely to carry too much power and flair. Connacht complete their Conference assignments next week against Orrell. That match and the outings tomorrow should be useful experience for Connacht's very young side in preparation for the match against Australia next month.

The four clubs involved this afternoon in the semi finals of the Leinster Senior League have all been hit by representative calls, none harder than Lansdowne, who meet Terenure College, the holders, at Lansdowne Road. Between representative calls and injuries Lansdowne will be without no fewer than 12 players. Terenure have four players on representative duty, including internationals Ciaran Clarke and Hogan as well as Girvan Dempsey and team captain James Blaney, who are both replacements for Leinster.

Nicky Barry, in the Connacht team, is Clontarf's only absentee and misses the league semi final against his old club St Mary's College at Castle Avenue. St Mary's, however, will be without seven players.

There are league ties in the other three provinces as well and Munster meet Ulster in the under 20 interprovincial Championship at Musgrave Park and Connacht take on the Exiles at under age in Galway.