The Borders v Ulster: The witticism that there's always someone worse off than you is generally applicable but will offer scant consolation to Ulster coach Mark McCall. The Borders may prop up the Celtic League table but the Irish province is hardly chipper just one place above them.
Ulster have managed just a single losing bonus point in their last five outings - Connacht, way back on September 18th, were the last side they managed to beat. It's not just that McCall's side is losing, it's the manner of those defeats. There is precious little by way of intelligible, cohesive rugby and there appears a serious lack of confidence.
The Ulster coach did show some backbone when he took responsibility after their most recent defeat at home to Munster, especially as Ulster produced an insipid performance. The players have a huge responsibility to try to rally round their beleaguered coach.
However, McCall must ask himself some hard questions, notably where this group of players is going and where he'd like them to be. They probably won't qualify from the pools in the Heineken European Cup and they are languishing at the wrong end of the table in the Celtic League so it's reasonable to assume that there won't be any trophies this season.
The priority for McCall is to try to build now for next season, snatching the odd victory but having patterns and personnel in place by the end of the season so that the next campaign is not hamstrung by existing failures.
He seems reluctant to let go of some of the older players and so there are only two changes to the team that lost to Munster. Kieran Campbell comes in at scrumhalf to replace Neil Doak while Andrew Maxwell is named on the wing instead of Tommy Bowe, who is rested.
Nigel Brady returns to the bench having recovered from an eye injury sustained against Gloucester while the only other change among the replacements is the inclusion of Scott Young.
Scottish internationals Bruce Douglas, Scott Gray, Ross Ford, and Stuart Moffat return to The Borders team but missing from the side is capped winger Nikki Walker who sustained an injury against Glasgow at Hughenden. Moffat moves to the wing, where he has played several times this season for The Borders.
For the second successive match Peebles scrumhalf Drew Moore, who is in negotiations with The Borders about a contract, is in the starting team.
Borders coach Steve Bates suggested: "We have to get intensity back into our game. The two matches against Coimbra did us few favours and that showed against Glasgow last weekend. They had hunger. We didn't."
Ulster won narrowly here the last time and at this stage in their season they'd probably take a one point victory just to arrest the downward spiral.
THE BORDERS: G Morton; S Moffat C MacRae, C Hore, I Berthinussen; A Warnock, D Moore; P Thompson (capt), R Ford, B Douglas; M Blair, C Stewart; S Gray, K Brown, W McEntee. Replacements: S Scott, T McGee, M Parr, A Rennick, J Weston, A Miller, J Pattison.
ULSTER: B Cunningham; A Maxwell, J Bell, P Steinmetz, T Howe; A Larkin, K Campbell; S Best; P Shields, R Moore; R Frost, M McCullough; A Ward (capt), C Feather, N Best. Replacements: R McCormack, N Brady, G Longwell, G Brown, N Doak, S Young, T Bowe.
Referee: Phil Fear (WRU).
Head to head (Recent meetings) November 2003 (CL) at Ravenhill: Ulster 46 The Borders 5. April 2004 (CL) at Netherdale: The Borders 15 Ulster 19.
Leading points scorers: The Borders - Charlie Hore 50. Ulster - David Humphreys 39.
Verdict: Ulster.
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