Ulster face Glasgow Warriors
Ulster will play the Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League at Raven Hill on Friday night.
Ulster will be expecting to beat Glasgow at home having dropped points away to Connaught last week. The match ended in a 15-15 draw.
Glasgow will be hoping that they can upset the odds and come away with a surprise victory. The Scottish team were well beaten at home 29-43 by a dominant Munster team at Firhill last weekend.
The Ulster side will be missing a number of key players for the encounter. Stephen Ferris will be out with a shoulder injury. The flanker came off after only 10 minutes in the match with Connaught. The player had to leave the field with an upper body injury.
BJ Botha damaged ligaments in his hand during the same match. This will rule Botha out for a few weeks at least. The South African has become crucial to Ulster this season particularly with the growing injury problems in the tight and loose-head positions.
The prop’s injury will cause the Ulster management team a number of problems. Props Declan Fitzpatrick and Adam Macklin are both out with injuries. Fitzpatrick has a calf tear which will rule him out for two months, while Macklin has a broken ankle and will
not return for the Ulster side for the foreseeable future.
Glasgow will try and target the front row of Ulster due to the number of absent props. Alan Whitten will be drafted in as cover, but it is likely that Brian Young and Tom Court will start in the front row for Ulster.
Ruan Pienaar is expected to make his debut for Ulster after recovering from a shoulder injury. The South African can play as a scrum-half or out-half, but it is expected that he will play as the number nine.
Simon Danielli may also feature after he was called into the squad for the first time this season.
The Warriors will be disappointed that they have not picked up more points after an impressive victory over one of the favourites Leinster in their opening game. Since then they have lost to Welsh side Gwent Dragons, Connaught and Munster. They will be disappointed
with the results against Connaught and the Dragons who are two of the weaker sides in the competition.
Glasgow coach Sean Lineen was particularly disappointed with his side’s performance in the 29-43 defeat to Munster. After the match he said, “Munster put a lot of pressure on our kickers at nine and 10 and we couldn't clear our lines. We gave them field
position and that is lethal. They didn't have to do much for their tries, which is disappointing."
Glasgow will rely heavily on Captain John Barclay’s leadership in the pack and the forwards will hope to gain the advantage with so many Ulstermen out.
The Warriors will have to make a decision at fly-half and Lineen will need to choose between Duncan Weir and Ruaridh Jackson.
Jackson was dropped for the game against Munster and Weir scored five penalties and two conversions in the match.
Ulster will expect to win and continue their good form this season. After, a good start in their first game this season Glasgow will be looking to take something from this game having lost their other matches.
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