Ulster v Munster - teams and prediction
URC QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW: The opening match of the inaugural United Rugby Championship quarterfinals might be al all-Irish affair, but there is certainly plenty of South African flavour to the outing at the Ravenhill Stadium.
The weekend of high-drama gets underway in Belfast on Friday when Ulster welcomes Munster,
For two of Munster's coaches - Johann van Graan and Stephan Larkham - this week could be their last match in charge of the side.
Both will be keen to finish their time with Munster on a high after a tough season, before moving on.
Van Graan is moving on to Bath at the beginning of the new season, where he will be joined by defence coach JP Ferreira.
Assistant coach Stephan Larkham is returning to Australia.
Munster has had plenty of misfortune - from the untimely injuries to World Cup winner Rudolf Snyman to their loss in the Champions Cup quarterfinals to French giants Toulouse on a penalty shoot-out.
The URC is their last chance of claiming back some glory.
Van Graan took the team to the Pro14 final last year, where they lost narrowly to Leinster.
The lack of trophies at Thormond Park is something that Munster fans have fixated on.
Munster did manage to win in Belfast the last time they were there, and bar a few injuries will be heading north hoping to do the same after their disappointing sixth place in the standings.
But they know a local derby won't be easy, especially with Ulster in exceptional form at the moment.
"We've got to make sure that we play the game that we want to play," Larkham said.
"We felt that we did that the last time we played against them, we felt that we controlled the territory quite well, we held the ball when we needed to hold the ball and we transferred the ball when we felt we didn't have good momentum.
"So it's going to be much of the same for us, making sure that our process, our systems are consistent throughout the game and we're very conscious of their set-piece, their breakdown pressure and their kicking game.
"We spoke about that a little bit this morning in terms of there is nothing if we don't win this weekend so yeah, full concentration and focus is on making sure we get a good performance this weekend."
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Munster know that there are no second chances, and a loss would bring down their season earlier than they want it to.
"We've spoken about the possibilities of what's going to happen after this weekend but we don't know so there's no point harping on that. Guys will be ready to, you know, we'll have a day in between where guys can pack if we have to go to South Africa or if we have to go to Edinburgh, that will be later in the week so it's not such a big issue.
"But finals footy is always the same. You concentrate on the next game and we've been doing this now for the last four or five games, getting in there and concentrate on making sure we get a good performance this weekend and then everything after that looks after itself."
There is another strong South African connection - Munster's World Cup-winning powerhouse Springbok centre Damian de Allende.
A chest complaint meant De Allende missed the 25-35 loss to Leinster in the league's final round, a result that dropped Munster to sixth place in the final standings and lined them up for a quarterfinal against Ulster in Belfast.
This season, De Allende scored a try in three of five starts in the league, a try-count bettered only by five other players at the Irish province despite the mighty midfielder appearing in just seven matches.
Aside from the player himself, none will be more disappointed with De Allende's injury-interrupted campaign than Van Graan.
The former Springbok assistant coach has at times during his final season at the province been criticised for Munster's conservative style of play.
Van Graan clearly favours the brand of simple and effective rugby used by world champions South Africa, but his plan pivots on mainstays that have been unavailable.
Munster legend Christiaan Stander, who had come through the Bulls ranks during Van Graan's time at Loftus Versfeld, retired at the end of last season after 156 matches for the Irish province. A three-time winner of Munster's Player of the Year award, Stander added grunt to the pack and horsepower in the race for momentum.
Breakout Bulls lock Rudolf Snyman joined Munster in 2020 and promised to fire up the tight five, but the towering 2019 Rugby World Cup champion has been a fixture of the injury report ever since.
And De Allende's farewell season in Munster has also been disrupted as the Bok No.12 was sidelined for two months with an abdominal injury earlier this year.
One of the game's most commanding midfielders, De Allende is a big cog in Van Graan's plan to go out with a bang. He was equally as imperative a component in the success of South Africa against the British & Irish Lions last year, his sturdy legs consistently propelling him through contact to keep the world champions going forward.
Going into the quarterfinal against Ulster, De Allende, Van Graan and Munster will have perfectly aligned goals.
A third successive win against their Irish rivals would fortify Munster's standing and create the opportunity to avenge their agonising Champions Cup quarter-final when they lost on a penalty shoot out to Toulouse after the sides were level 24-all after 100 minutes.
For De Allende, bossing the midfield in the URC play-offs would make for a heroic send-off from Munster and redeem his world-class reputation as South Africa prepare to begin their final approach to the 2023 World Cup.
Former Ulster and Ireland back row forward Stephen Ferris, with 106 appearances for his province alongside 35 caps for his country plus a 2009 Grand Slam win under his belt, believes his former province has a big game in them.
"I think they can pitch up and beat anyone on their day if it all clicks," Ferris said.
"The line-speed they can bring in their defence can really unsettle teams, we saw that with La Rochelle against Leinster, who were up in their faces with huge physicality.
"The only thing with La Rochelle is sizes win prizes and the size of the lads that they had on show, the bench that they brought on - Ulster just don't have that so when it comes to the physicality stakes, they empty their bench and it weakens the side a bit.
"Munster are a bit wounded after being beaten convincingly by Leinster a few weeks ago. There's going to be a lot of chat around this game and lot of eyes on it. It's a great stage for some of these Ulster players to perform at the top of their level – for the likes of James Hume and Stuart McCloskey.
"For me it's the top game of the weekend to kick us off on Friday, the weather looks to be OK, tickets seem hard to come by and it will be a really good atmosphere. I hope it lives up to the hype and expectation everyone's giving it. I think both sides are going to bring their A game and I think it's going to probably be Ulster's best performance of the season to bring them to a semi-final."
Ulster have won their last two URC fixtures since their home defeat to Munster in April.
Ravenhill Stadium has hosted three previous play-off matches with Ulster running out victors in all of them.
Munster have won only three of their last seven URC encounters and will have to improve on an away play-off record that has seen them lose all seven such matches they have played.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Munster by five points
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Ethan McIlroy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Marcus Rea, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Matty Rea, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Ben Moxham.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Thomas Ahern, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Chris Cloete.
Date: Friday, June 3
Venue: Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast
Kick-off: 19.35 (18.35 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ben Blain (Scotland)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuisen (South Africa)
Source: @URCOfficial