Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ACE LUKE WARM ON BALLYMENA
HIS mum had her concerns but a recent run-out with Ballymena in the All Ireland League helped get Luke Marshall back in the Ulster groove.
The Ireland centre returned to provincial duty in last week’s 59-10 win over the Southern Kings following a three month spell on the sidelines with an achilles injury.
And he was quick to namecheck Ballymena who helped his rehab by giving him gametime in a recent 10-5 win over Shannon in Division 1B of the AIL.
Marshall dotted down for the County Antrim club’s only try of the game, but admitted: “I felt as nervous as I have in a long time, but it felt good.
“Ballymena are struggling in the table at the minute, so it was nice to go back and help out. I had a good run-out and scored so it was fun.”
Was he worried some of the Shannon players might relish the chance to leave one on a higher profile opponent?
“That was one of the things my mum was worried about,” smiled Marshall. “She didn’t want me playing because of that, but the Shannon boys went easy on me.”
After returning to Ulster action last week, Marshall is bracing himself for a higher octane test against Edinburgh who lie just three points below the province in the Pro14 table.
Richard Cockerill’s men defeated conference leaders Leinster last weekend and are now a serious threat to Ulster’s hopes of making the playoffs.
Marshall said: “They’re going well. Richard Cockerill has done a good job. They play decent rugby and are quite forward orientated with a physical edge.
“Obviously it is a must win game. We then have the Scarlets after that, so we’re getting to the stage where we don’t want to slip up many more times. The pressure is on really.” ULSTER: Ludik, Gilroy, Marshall, Mccloskey, Bowe, Mcphillips, Cooney; Warwick, Herring, Herbst, O’connor, Treadwell, Rea, Timoney, Deysel.