Nelson calls for huge drive from ‘A’ team to take charge of group
ULSTER ‘A’ face a crucial clash with Cornish Pirates this evening at Shaw’s Bridge (kick-off 5pm) in their penultimate group game of the British and Irish Cup campaign.
Kieran Campbell’s squad are level on points (14) with the Pirates, who sit top of Pool Five, and Ulster need to win to stay in control of their own destiny regarding making the quarter-finals.
Though they lost 23-14 at the Pirates back in October, Ulster have won all their other group games so far and can now take a huge step forward by beating the mid-table English Championship team this evening.
Peter Nelson starts at out-half for the much-altered ‘A’ team from their last outing, when they won against Hartpury College, and, as one of the more experienced players in the squad, has called for a big effort towards ultimately winning the group.
“It’s a huge game for us,” said Nelson, who played in the first game at the Pirates.
“We’re sitting in a good position in the table and if we go well this weekend we can put ourselves in a really good spot for the final game (at the Scarlets) as well.”
Ulster know they must deal with the Pirates’ strength up front, and they have experienced opera- tors Peter Browne and Clive Ross with both making up the team’s second row.
Ross Kane comes in at prop, while John Andrew leads the side and takes over at hooker from Adam McBurney who scored four tries against Hartpury College.
Scrum-half Jonny Stewart, who started for the senior side last weekend, links up with Nelson at half-back.
Jack Owens is at full-back with Rob Lyttle and Aaron Cairns on the wings.
Ulster ‘A’: J Owens, R Lyttle, C Patterson, R Butler, A Cairns, P Nelson, J Stewart; T O’Hagan, J Andrew (capt), R Kane, P Browne, C Ross, C Montgomery, M Agnew, M Rea.
Replacements: Z McCall, T O’Toole, E O’Sullivan, J McCusker, D Shanahan, C Swash, A Kernohan. AS usual, Rory Best speaks with eloquence and candour about the issues at hand and doesn’t shirk away when a potentially tricky query comes along.
The Ulster and Ireland skipper has a message to get across that tomorrow he and his team-mates will rise to the occasion to add another French side’s scalp to the Kingspan collection while also staying on course for potential European qualification.
And yet Best does not appear to be quite firing on all cylinders when it comes to delivering the expected call to arms.
Hardly surprising really after what has been an injury-blighted season for the 35-year-old, allied to the fact that Ulster have not found things easy of late.
He came back into the side last weekend for the first time since the start of December only to experience another RDS bashing from Leinster, and the six-try defeat is still clearly raw which is no way to be with La Rochelle next up tomorrow lunchtime.
“I think the frustrating thing is that you want to come in as one of the Ireland internationals and as the captain and you want to feel that you make a difference, you want to feel that you lift the place,” he said of making it back last weekend from a troublesome ankle infection.
“That was very frustrating for me to come in and then for us to produce probably at times some of our worst rugby.”
Fair to say then that Ulster’s captain is not just as upbeat as would usually be the case.
In fairness, he has a lot on his plate with the stuttering squad needing instant revival, never mind hardly being match-fit and having to deal with the close proximity of the Six Nations as well as the matter of sorting out his own future beyond this season.
But right now he has to gather himself and his troops to take on Pool One leaders La Rochelle and find the means of putting together one of those special blood-cur- dling European performances at the Kingspan and emulate Wasps earlier in the campaign by taking the powerful French side down.
“That is what we’re focusing on now,” said Best, who has only played a total of six games this season — four for Ulster and two with Ireland.
“And, while our season as a whole isn’t in the balance on Saturday, our European season is at crunch time now.
“So you lose this and you’re really on the back foot and you’re asking yourselves to go to Wasps and get a result and hope that other things go your way,” he added of a situation Ulster cannot afford to allow happen regarding European Rugby Champions Cup Pool One:
Kingspan Stadium, Saturday, 1pm