Round 2 of the Champions Cup pool stage sees Ulster hosting Northampton Saints on Friday; Montpellier awarded win vs Leinster; six more fixtures scheduled for Saturday and four on Sunday
Friday 17 December 2021 10:33, UK
We look ahead to Friday's Heineken Champions Cup action as the second round of pool stage games gets underway, with Ulster hosting Northampton Saints…
Dan McFarland is eager to see Ulster build on the historic victory over Clermont last Saturday when they welcome Northampton to the Kingspan Stadium on Friday evening.
That 29-23 victory in France marked the first time the Irish province had won away to Clermont and they now aim to defend their impressive recent home record against the Saints in the second round of Champions Cup pool matches.
Ulster have won 13 out of 15 of their last home games in Europe's premier club competition and while he was impressed with his side's performance last week, head coach McFarland is wary of a backlash from the visitors following their humbling 45-14 loss at home to Racing 92.
"I thought we played really well in the way we controlled the game," McFarland said. "The bottom line is we've got a lot of lads out there who aren't maybe considered our starters but have been performing really well.
"We've got Northampton next who are going to be desperate to stay in contention after losing to Racing. We will need to be at our best and we need to keep improving to be successful in this competition."
Ulster are boosted by the return of skipper Iain Henderson in the second row, with the Ireland international being one of three changes to the team that beat Clermont.
The Saints, meanwhile, make six changes and among them is England international Courtney Lawes, who returns to the side after an impressive Autumn Nations Series campaign. However, George Furbank lines up at fly-half after Wales star Dan Biggar was forced off injured against Racing.
Northampton rugby director Chris Boyd believes last Friday's defeat to Racing at Franklin's Gardens should serve as a wake-up call for his team as they aim to boost their ambitions of reaching the knock-out stages.
"I don't know whether we were tentative, or nervous or just overpowered, but they certainly dominated that period of time," Boyd said. "We didn't adapt to the referee's interpretation [of the breakdown] and paid the price.
"We weren't smart sometimes, but I don't think we didn't try. I think we struggled to deal with their physicality and pace at times. If you aspire to improve then when you don't get it right, there's often some pretty telling lessons in there."
Named teams
Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry; 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Ethan McIlroy; 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney; 1 Andrew Warwick, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Marty Moore, 4 Alan O'Connor, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 6 Marcus Rea, 7 Nick Timoney, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Tom O'Toole, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Sam Carter, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Greg Jones.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Courtnall Skosan; 10 George Furbank, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Alex Waller, 2 Mikey Haywood, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 David Ribbans, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 8 Tom Wood.
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Tom James, 22 James Grayson, 23 Rory Hutchinson.
Match cancelled - 28-0 win awarded to Montpellier.
