Sexton in race for Six Nations
“We were tackled into touch three times as a ball-carrier. Little things like that are big. You’ll never get good breakdown if off in those areas.”
While there was an assumption that Harlequins had perhaps been better than anticipated — “They’ve got some really good players that caused us trouble, perhaps we didn’t expect that,” McFarland offered — Grant was left frustrated by the success of the threats he had flagged in the build-up.
“It was a tough game and clearly we didn’t do what we intended to do,” he said. “Harlequins were very good and the guys who we thought would play well played very well.
“We let guys who we knew would be good like Robshaw, who we previewed, get in and over ball rather than making it difficult for them.
“Robshaw is a very clever and intelligent player. He’s good over ball, he’s got good nous. The rest of the back-row was physical, as we thought they would be. Dombrandt and Kunatani are very physical and as coaches we were aware of that in the build-up to the game. Their back-row were all physical and good at the break
JOHNNY Sexton is in a race to be fit for the start of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign due to the knee injury he picked up in last Saturday’s win over Northampton.
The out-half underwent an initial scan on Sunday and after it failed to determine the full extent of the problem, Sexton was sent to see a specialist yesterday.
Sexton has been ruled out of this weekend’s return game against Northampton at the Aviva Stadium with Ross Byrne set to start. Leinster will know more over the coming days, but it is understood it could be several weeks amidst fears that Sexton significantly damaged the ligaments in his knee. Should the 34-year-old miss any of the Six Nations, it would be a blow to new head coach Andy Farrell as he also has concerns over Joey Carbery (ankle), who hasn’t played since the World Cup, but is hoping to return for Munster over the festive period. With Jack Carty struggling for form, the door would reopen for Byrne, who missed out on selection for Japan.
down and carrying. That’s what makes them good, they do what they’re good at and we didn’t do as we wanted.”
Still, the win kept the side top of Pool Three with 12 points at the halfway stage of the groups and on course for a second consecutive quarter-final berth.
The game at The Stoop this weekend is pivotal. Lose, and the province would surely have to beat Clermont in France just for an away quarter-final. Sweep the back-to-backs for a third consecutive year and they have one foot in the last-eight.
“Game four, if you don’t do well in game four, it makes it difficult going forward,” Grant added. “You need to win as many games as you can but it always comes down to that last game, however the pool works out.”
AS the decade draws to a close, we’re looking back at an eventful 10 years at Kingspan Stadium. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be asking you to help us pick our Ulster team of the decade, with the openside flankers up for review today.
OPENSIDE FLANKERS
was the standout operator in Ulster’s No.7 jersey.
Having made his debut in 2009 against Harlequins, by the next summer he’d made his international bow for Ireland.
Having almost walked away from the game due to a lack of opportunities, after a switch from No.8 to openside he became a fixture in the side to the tune of 184 outings in the white jersey before retiring in January 2018.
A true and traditional No.7, Henry did his best work on the ground and was a nuisance in the best sense of the word.
His return from a mini-stroke suffered on the eve of an Ireland Test against South Africa was an inspirational story, making his way back not only to provincial duty but into the national set-up and winning his 24th and final cap at the 2015 World
Cup. him score a crucial try against Harlequins in last weekend’s European Champions Cup win.
The nephew of a former All Black prop, the 30-year-old is Irish-qualified thanks to a Kerry-born grandfather, and won his first cap against South Africa on the summer tour of 2016. He’d add another in Japan the next summer and his link play between forwards and backs has been a real key contribution.
HAVING found himself left out of the Leinster team too frequently for his liking, Jordi Murphy agreed to make the switch north in the summer of 2018.
Ironically found some of the best form of his career in the months between announcing his departure and winning the double for the RDS-based outfit, and has contributed well since arriving in Belfast.
Still having only played 22 games for Dan McFarland’s side, Murphy has been able to nail down the No.7 jersey having once been praised for his versatility.
The consistent run has brought some of his best form, with his try-scoring performance against Clermont in the Champions Cup back in November arguably his best for the province.
Doesn’t have the longevity of others but, should he opt to re-sign at the Kingspan, he could remain in situ for a few more seasons to
come.
To vote for your favourite, simply go to www.belfasttelegraph. co.uk and watch out for the rest of the positions being filled over the coming days