The countdown to Saturday's eagerly anticipated European Cup final at Lansdowne Road gathered momentum yesterday, albeit with far from earth-shattering news. At a press conference in Ravenhill, Ulster coach Harry Williams endorsed the starting XV which did duty against Stade Francais in the semi-finals by announcing an unchanged side to face Colomiers.
Williams admitted that the selection of the starting XV didn't cause him too many sleepless moments. The one area of discussion was that of scrum-half, where Andy Matchett and Stephen Bell have been vying against each other all season on a pretty even keel.
Despite training part-time, Matchett was the man in situ after the quarter and semi-finals, whereas Bell has had comparatively less rugby under his belt since recovering from a shoulder injury. "Andy has had more regular games recently whereas Stephen has had only one game in the last eight weeks or so."
As regards the replacements' bench, Williams has made one change, with Stanley McDowell coming into the squad in place of the unfortunate Robin Morrow. McDowell was a regular in the side for Ulster's first four games of the season, but has made only two fleeting and abortive comeback attempts since pulling a hamstring during the friendly win over Glasgow Caledonians.
Explaining the change on the replacements' bench, Williams said: "Stan knows everything we're trying to do, and he was told quite clearly that he had to play two games (for Dungannon) and come through them both to be considered. He's done that and he can cover a number of positions." Heretofore Ulster have revelled with the tag of underdogs in accounting for Toulouse (twice) and Stade Francais at Ravenhill, and are understandably reluctant to suddenly be tagged with the status of favourites.
For example, Paddy Powers have installed Ulster as 11/8 on to lift the trophy, but Williams said: "We don't agree with the bookies making us favourites. Colomiers are a very strong side. We watched the video of their match against Munster and we know what to expect. The players don't believe they are favourites and are prepared for a tough challenge."
Full-back Simon Mason has emerged as something of a talismanic figure for the Ulster-men, with 126 points in their eight matches so far, and looks sure to break Jon Callard's seasonal record of 129 points in Bath's winning run last season.
"As a pressure occasion this will be different from an international and no-one wants to let down our fantastic supporters," commented Mason yesterday.
Injury concerns over a number of players mean Colomiers will not finalise their team until tomorrow but captain Jean-Luc Sadourny has been declared fit to lead the French club, who are optimistic that their other main injury doubts, international scrum-half Fabien Galthie and flanker cum line-out specialist Patrick Tabacco, will be able to start.
Ulster: S Mason; S Coulter, J Cunningham, J Bell, A Park; D Humphreys (captain), A Matchett; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, A Ward, T McWhirter. Replacements: S McDowell, B Cunningham, S Bell, D Topping, S Duncan, G Leslie, R Weir.
Colomiers (probable): J-L Sadourny (captain); B Lhande, M Carre, S Roque, M Biboulet; L Labit, F Galthie; S Delpuech, M Dal Maso, S Graou, J-M Lorenzi, G Moro, B de Giusti, S Peysson, P Tabacco.
Referee: C Thomas (Wales).
Paddy Powers full odds for the final are: To win outright - 8/11 Ulster, 1/1 Colomiers. Over 80 minutes - 4/5 Ulster, 16/1 draw, 11/10 Colomiers.
