A big carrot dangles in front of Ulster, opportunity knocks for an old stager and a host of contenders will be hoping it’s lucky 13 in the build up to the Six Nations.
Ulster to put the final nail in the Leicester coffin?
Not that they’ll need much motivation, but there will be a fairly big carrot dangling in front of the Ulster lads before their clash with Leicester in Ravenhill on Friday night.
A win will put them in a magnificent position heading into their final pool game against Clermont, but significantly, it would almost certainly eliminate any chances the Tigers have of making the last eight, something they have failed to do only four times in 14 seasons.
Ahead of the game, Geordan Murphy has described Ravenhill as “a fortress” and the Ulster faithful will certainly make it as intimidating as possible for the visitors. It won’t be the just the home support rooting for the Ulster men either, we can’t foresee too many tears if Stephen Ferris and company dump that most English of all English teams out of the competition for another season at least.
Peter Stringer a late bolter for the Six Nations squad?
Earlier in the week, Dimitri Yachvili had some very nice words to say about Peter Stringer and although there might be a touch of lip service ahead of the Saracens Biarritz clash this weekend, praise from someone like from Yachvili counts for quite lot in rugby circles.
He hasn’t set the world alight, but Stringer has been more than adequate for Sarries since making the temporary switch across the pond and he retains an ambition to add to the 98 international caps he has amassed to date. The problem for Stringer, of course, is that apart from the back row, there is no jersey that attracts as much competition in the Irish set-up as the number nine.
He needs two more caps to hit the ton for Ireland, but will he get them this spring?
Only Conor Murray of Stringer’s direct competitors could be described as an automatic first choice, so there’s hope for the wee man yet. Certainly, he’ll be listening in on next week’s Six Nations squad announcement with interest.
Contenders vying to be the centre of attention
Ever since we became aware of the extent of Brian O’Driscoll’s shoulder injury, speculation has been rife about the identity of the great man’s successor in the number 13 jersey, both in the short and long term. With the Irish squad due to be announced next week, the focus on the number 13 shirt is bound to be ramped up this weekend and the candidates for the role will be eager to impress in what could be the final audition.
Keith Earls seems to be leading the race, while in O’Driscoll’s own neck of the woods, Fergus McFadden and Eoin O’Malley have both been making good claims. Ulster’s Darren Cave repeated his long-held ambition to don the green jersey in a Sunday Times interview at the weekend and although it might be too soon yet, Connacht’s Eoin Griffin is worth keeping an eye on.
Then there’s Tommy Bowe at the Ospreys, but it would be a surprise if Declan Kidney moves him away from the wing where he has been so effective in recent years.
No shortage of candidates then, but they’ll all find that because of the man that went before, they’ll have clown-size shoes to fill.
