Heineken Cup / Saracens v Ulster: Ulster's trek to Vicarage Road to face a vengeful Saracens highlights the difficulty in obtaining double victories in these back-to-back weekends, but Steve Diamond's jaw-dropping post-match assertion last week that "we'll smash them at home next week" has merely served to up the ante.
The Saracens' coach is not known for his diplomacy, and they say coaches mirror their teams. Very few members of Saracens grunt and grind department are candidates for boy choirs and it was striking to see Cobus Visagie and others depart the pitch without the hint of a handshake.
Few teams embody the apparent obsession in the English Premiership with physicality over subtlety more than Saracens. No doubt they will be as abrasive as they were last week - when repeated off-the-ball skirmishes concluded in them completely imploding in the tense endgame - in an effort to show might is right, although at home on a drier track they will surely seek to do so with more discipline, sustained tempo and perhaps even more than Glen Jackson kicking the leather off the ball.
First though, it will be an unremitting test of Ulster's physical mettle, and given there is only one change from the two starting line-ups - Ben Johnston returning from injury for Kevin Sorrell in the Sarries midfield, while Taine Randell is back on the bench - invariably there'll be a few personal scores to be settled. Simon Best described last week's encounter as the most niggly of any match his team had been involved in this season, but Mark McCall maintains Ulster's discipline has been good all season.
"Last week the balance was spot-on. We didn't allow ourselves to be pushed around. We need to be as hard again and play on the edge, although there's a line there that we cannot afford to step over . . . They do have some dangerous runners like Thomas Castaignede and Tevita Vaikona. To be honest it's all about the result and if it comes down to another dogfight then so be it."
No better man pulling the strings and kicking the goals than David Humphreys, who is six points shy of 500 tournament points on the day he becomes only the second Ulster player, after Gary Longwell, to make his 50th cup appearance. "He's playing as well as at any stage in the last four years. He seems rejuvenated," said McCall.
Such are the potentially fine margins between the three contenders that one away win in any of the six match-ups could decide the group and with Biarritz at home and Treviso away in their concluding matches, victory here would leave Ulster with plenty of festive cheer. Failing that, there best hope is coming out on top in the tightest of three-way finishes and currently on nine points, with 19 points the likely threshold, they probably need to emerge with something from this encounter.
The pressure on Saracens is even more acute, for as Kyran Bracken admitted yesterday: "This is make or break for us."
Ulster have lost their last seven cup ties away from home, but they'll have about 1,000 supporters with them today and McCall points out they have won four out of five on the road in the Celtic League, while their performance in Biarritz was hardly that of a team who have a mental block about playing away. Three tries down in no time that day, they have to hold their own in the opening quarter to give themselves a chance.
SARACENS: D Scarbrough; P Bailey, T Castaignede, B Johnston, T Vaikona; G Jackson, K Bracken; K Yates, S Byrne, C Visagie, S Raiwalui, K Chesney, H Vyvyan (capt), B T Russell, B Skirving. Replacements: M Cairns, B Broster, T Randell, D Seymour, A Dickens, M Bartholomeusz, B J Russell.
ULSTER RUGBY: B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs, A Trimble, P Steinmetz; D Humphreys, K Campbell; B Young, R Best, S Best, J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, S Ferris, I Boss, A Larkin, J Topping.
Referee: Joel Jutge (France).
Previous meetings: (2000-'01) Saracens 55 Ulster 25; Ulster 13 Saracens 21. (2005-'06) Ulster 19 Saracens 10.
Formguide: Saracens - 22-10 v Biarritz (h); 30-17 v Treviso (a); 10-19 v Ulster (a). Ulster - 27-0 v Treviso (h); 19-33 v Biarritz (a); 19-10 v Saracens (h).
Leading try scorers: Saracens - Hugh Vyvyan 2. Ulster - Neil best 2.
Leading points scorers: Saracens - Glen Jackson 39. Ulster - David Humphreys 30.
Odds (Paddy Powers): 1/5 Saracens, 22/1 Draw, 3/1 Ulster. Handicap betting (= Ulster + 10pts) 10/11 Saracens, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Ulster.
Forecast: Saracens to win.
Vicarage Road, 1.0 On TV: Sky Sports 2
