{"id":222333,"date":"2026-01-01T21:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222333\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T21:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:44:08","slug":"strong-ulster-side-out-to-entertain-full-house-in-belfast-as-munster-come-to-town-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/222333\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong Ulster side out to entertain full house in Belfast as Munster come to town \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

URC: Ulster v Munster, Affidea Stadium, Friday, 7.45pm \u2013 Liver on Premier Sports<\/p>\n

A new year is upon us, along with something else which feels refreshingly upbeat as this interprovincial clash between Ulster<\/a> and Munster<\/a> has managed a rare thing of selling-out the Affidea Stadium.<\/p>\n

That is some going for Ulster on what is expected to be a typically cold and possibly wet evening. Perhaps it reflects more than just festive holiday mode for the northern province\u2019s first home game after three fixtures on the road, but also the nurturing of a feeling that a corner has been well and truly turned after last season\u2019s grimness.<\/p>\n

In fairness, Ulster are playing some great attacking rugby, scoring tries and collecting bonus points as well, with winger Werner Kok sitting on seven tries from his last four games.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Mark Sexton-inspired attack has clearly injected pace, intelligence and width to the province\u2019s work on the ball. Other areas of their game require a fair bit of work, with the scrum, lineout, game management and overall discipline not reaching the desired levels of accuracy.<\/p>\n

Even so, Richie Murphy<\/a> will be looking at this meeting and demanding more from what is very close to his strongest selection being pitted against Munster\u2019s significantly rotated squad.<\/p>\n

Clayton McMillan<\/a> will certainly not want to be heading back into Europe off the back of two straight interprovincial losses, and though he has rung the changes there is scope to be hopeful of the trip north with a backrow of Tom Ahern, John Hodnett and Alex Kendellen looking rather threatening at the breakdown, while locks Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley could also do some damage to the hosts.<\/p>\n

Munster\u2019s scrum will reckon they can replicate some of Connacht\u2019s work on Ulster\u2019s set-piece, while keeping the heat on up front will surely be assisted by also having the abrasive Brian Gleeson and Jack O\u2019Donoghue lurking on their bench.<\/p>\n

Ulster will be planning to establish a decent enough platform with Angus Bell and Tom O\u2019Toole starting, along with Cormac Izuchukwu at blindside flanker. His duel with Ahern should be interesting while the consistently accurate Nick Timoney steps down from the captaincy as Iain Henderson returns for his first Ulster game time since the Sharks clash back in October.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Henderson pulled out of the warm-up against Racing 92 at the start of December with a back spasm which appears to have been the root cause of keeping him sidelined since. He packs down for this one alongside youngster Joe Hopes.<\/p>\n

Should the hosts produce the required supply of possession then Ulster have the ordnance to continue inflicting damage on all those facing them.<\/p>\n

With Nathan Doak and Jack Murphy continuing to forge a useful looking halfback partnership, scope is there for Stuart McCloskey to be a focal point in their attacking shape with the onus mostly being on creating space on the edges to permit Ulster\u2019s back three to make hay.<\/p>\n

\"UlsterUlster winger Werner Kok has scored seven tries in his last four games. Photograph: Morgan Treacy\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Munster will be only too aware of what Ulster have been doing when going forward with the ball.<\/p>\n

Kok has been in the form of his life and alongside the excellent Jacob Stockdale at fullback, Ulster have been dealing well with high balls when defending and winning contestable kicks in attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everything has been falling into a structure from the start of the season,\u201d said Kok of how Ulster\u2019s game has altered since Sexton came on board over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you can actually see it, like everything is in place, and with Mark [Sexton] changing one or two things in the way we attack, and Willie [Faloon] in the few things how we defend. It just gives us a real good platform to play good rugby. You can see that in the team and the way it\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n

With winger Zac Ward \u2013 in the side again with Robert Baloucoune having picked up an injury in the pre-Christmas defeat at Leinster \u2013 also looking sharp when it comes to sniffing out tries, Ulster have invested in long passes to reach width with speed and accuracy. Munster will have to guard against being caught defensively light on the flanks while also keeping an eye on just what McCloskey can do should he launch himself through the middle in what will also be an intriguing encounter with Alex Nankivell.<\/p>\n

Mind you, the visitors have a decent back three as well with Mike Haley at fullback and Thaakir Abrahams on the left \u2013 both retained from the Leinster defeat after McMillan makes 10 changes for Belfast \u2013 while the returning Calvin Nash is also a threat.<\/p>\n

Much may well hinge for Munster on how Paddy Patterson and JJ Hanrahan manage the game and whether Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron and Michael Ala\u2019alatoa can inflict damage on Ulster\u2019s scrum.<\/p>\n

Munster need to create enough doubt in their opponents and keep their full complement on the park \u2013 Ulster have shipped five yellow cards in their last three outings \u2013 to derail the notion that this will be anything other than a nailed-on home banker.<\/p>\n

An expectant capacity crowd will also be reckoning on Ulster providing the bulk of the entertainment.<\/p>\n

Munster can throw some significant shapes into the intended narrative, but Ulster know that they still really ought to be able to get this one over the line.<\/p>\n

ULSTER: Jacob Stockdale; Werner Kok, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Zac Ward; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Angus Bell, Tom Stewart, Tom O\u2019Toole; Iain Henderson (capt), Joe Hopes; Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, Bryn Ward.<\/p>\n

Replacements: Rob Herring, Eric O\u2019Sullivan, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, David McCann, Conor McKee, Jake Flannery, Jude Postlethwaite.<\/p>\n

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Paddy Patterson; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Michael Ala\u2019alatoa; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen.<\/p>\n

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Conor Bartley, Jack O\u2019Donoghue, Brian Gleeson, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Se\u00e1n O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"URC: Ulster v Munster, Affidea Stadium, Friday, 7.45pm \u2013 Liver on Premier Sports A new year is upon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112,114852,114851],"class_list":{"0":"post-222333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-ulster-team-news","12":"tag-ulster-vs-munster"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}