Christmas may have been three days ago but Ulster fans might
get the best late Christmas present with a win over fierce rivals Leinster
today. Mark Anscombe’s men set a hot pace over the first 13 games of last
season before injuries took their toll and a young first side seems to have
come forward yet again based on this season’s evidence and have steadily
improved based on some exceptional form in Europe, including a 25-8 win at
Montpellier (no mean feat facing a full side in the competition) amongst their
seasonal highlights.
The Ulstermen were unimpressive when beating Zebre at
Ravenhill following a deeply impressive pair of Heineken Cup wins against
Treviso but Anscombe’s nine changes and three positional changes should freshen
the side up and centres Darren Cave and Luke Marshall should enjoy running at
Leinster’s second choice 12/13 axis while the return of Andrew Trimble and
Paddy Jackson should also add plenty of impetus to their backline. Leinster
gave a test level performance when thumping Northampton at Saints gardens and
were vulnerable to the turnaround but 9 of the same team that were beaten at
Edinburgh turnout again and this should be far more even than the odds on
prices for the home side suggest. Ulster became the only province to beat Leinster
at the RDS since the 2012 when taking the win here last season and could have
won all three contests if they had shown more discipline in the final which
they nominated to be there as top seeds and on this seasons form they are more
than capable of covering a 6 point handicap with Coral.
Advice
2 pts Ulster +6 (10/11 Coral)
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