United Rugby Championship: Ulster v Leinster, Affidea Stadium, Friday, 7.45pm - Live on Premier Sports
Interprovincial clashes resemble an onion – there are several layers to the narrative and someone invariably ends up crying. The latest instalment of the truism takes place in Belfast. There’s plenty on the line, as befits two sides separated by just a single point and one place in the URC table. Ulster enjoy that slender advantage.
Head coach Richie Murphy has made one change from the Ulster side that beat La Rochelle in the Challenge Cup last weekend, with Sean Reffell starting in place of the injured Nick Timoney. Otherwise, it’s as you were.
Murphy’s Leinster counterpart has taken a different tack. Leo Cullen names just three survivors – Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose and James Ryan – from the run-on team that beat Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup.
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Provincial squabbles are far from linear. The result matters in tangible form – match points – but from an individual perspective there are always wider ramifications. And it’s not just about a pecking order from a national perspective.
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Sam Prendergast resumes at outhalf having missed out on involvement in a couple of European matches. He does so against a backdrop of conceding the Ireland 10 jersey to Jack Crowley and the Leinster equivalent to Harry Byrne. In terms of form, those players are in better fettle. Sport can be brutally unsentimental, rooted in the now.
Prendergast will relaunch his bid to take back those jerseys on Friday night. Players talk about opportunity. This is a king-sized one, but he can’t do it alone. His input and impact are partially governed by the work of others to get him decent ball. Only then is it possible to accurately calibrate his influence.
He’s not alone in having plenty of skin in the game. There are other, more direct duels; successor versus predecessor, so to speak. One such is Stuart McCloskey – arguably Ireland’s Player of the Six Nations – and Robbie Henshaw.
James Hume, fit again and firing after a couple of seasons with niggling injury, will enjoy a crack off Garry Ringrose. while Tom Stewart will be eyeing up a tussle with Rónan Kelleher, the two hookers being Ireland squadmates. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will appreciate the forum to clarify or reorder selection ahead of the Nations Cup in the summer.
Joshua Kenny, with nine tries to his name, has made a brilliant fist of his first season in professional rugby after a brief hiatus with Sevens. Zac Ward, a key player for Ireland in the abridged version of the game, has also acquitted himself superbly. Teammates in the Ireland Development XV that took on England A in Limerick, they’ll be patrolling the same patch.
Alex Soroka has been regularly a standout in matches for Leinster this season, ditto Dave McCann for Ulster while Cormac Izuchukwu adds massive value in a variety of guises, whether in the backrow or secondrow. Leinster captain James Ryan has been consistently excellent. Tom O’Toole is operating in a dual capacity, positionally. Thomas Clarkson would no doubt encourage him to pursue a future at loosehead.
Prop Ed Byrne’s return to Leinster – he’s played 102 matches for the province – on a short-term loan from Cardiff will ease injury concerns in that position.
It is instructive that Ulster are five-point favourites. This is probably based on home advantage and their slection of a near-full-strength side. It is also, perhaps, an acknowledgement that their opponents’ form, even within a single 80-minute time frame, can yo-yo violently.
Critics will point to the recent URC defeats to Cardiff and Glasgow where Leinster succumbed because of substandard performances rather than being overwhelmed by the razzle-dazzle of the opposition. Leinster will offer a rebuttal, pointing to the number of games since a weak start to the season in which they have found a way to win.
As in the past, Cullen will studiously ignore the outside noise, the tut-tutting about not bringing a stronger side to Belfast. It’s a gamble. Stick or twist. Murphy and Cullen have chosen different options. And therein lies the jeopardy for the losing coach.
Leinster have won the last four games between the clubs since Ulster managed the double over their siblings in the 2024 season. It promises to be a fascinating watch.
Ulster: Jacob Stockdale, Werner Kok, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Zac Ward, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Angus Bell, Tom Stewart, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson (capt), Cormac Izuchukwu, David McCann, Sean Reffell, Juarno Augustus. Replacements: James McCormick, Sam Crean, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, Bryn Ward, Conor McKee, Jake Flannery, Jude Postlethwaite.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan, Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O’Brien, Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Jerry Cahir, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, James Ryan (capt), Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, James Culhane. Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Ed Byrne, Rabah Slimani, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Max Deegan, Will Connors, Fintan Gunne, Ciarán Frawley.
Referee: A Brace (Ireland).
