The fit-again Bryn Cunningham unsurprisingly makes an automatic return to the Ulster number 15 jersey for Friday's Celtic League meeting with Connacht at Ravenhill as Paddy Wallace pays the price for an unconvincing outing at fullback against Leinster. Issac Boss, their newly-recruited Irish-qualified Kiwi scrumhalf, is promoted to the bench.
Cunningham, who injured his shoulder in a pre-season friendly against Rotherham, would probably have returned to the starting line-up anyway, given he was an ever-present last season when he started all bar the Heineken European Cup "dead rubber" against Cardiff at fullback.
Cunningham, more secure and reliable defensively, has been first-choice fullback for the last three seasons in effect, even when Wallace was picked ahead of him in Ireland's 2003 World Cup squad.
Despite pilfering an early try against Leinster last Saturday, once Wallace was culpable for a couple of missed high balls and a missed tackle on Ciarán Potts for the home side's first try, Cunningham's comeback was inevitable if he proved his fitness.
"Bryn has been our number one 15 for the last couple of seasons," explained coach Mark McCall yesterday. "He was unfortunate enough to get that injury. It's been a frustrating injury, because he's been able to train with it but not play. As soon as he was fit, he was always likely to come back in."
The selection of Boss on the bench ups the ante for Kieran Campbell after the Kiwi's appearance for Ulster A against their Leinster counterparts last Friday. "He hadn't played any rugby with us or hardly trained with us before so he did very well in the circumstances," said McCall.
"All the basics of scrumhalf play were very solid. He passed well, he cleared the ball away quickly, he was a threat to their backrow, he box-kicked well and he defended well. That's not bad for a first game."
That said, Campbell was again tidily effective the following day and while Eddie O'Sullivan is probably keen for Boss to enter the Irish scrumhalf equation, McCall might be reluctant to damage the Test hopes of the incumbent Ulster scrumhalf in the light of the particularly ill-timed broken jaw Guy Easterby suffered in the same match.
"Kieran has played really well for us this season," admitted the Ulster coach. "All of a sudden we've got serious competition there. Kieran is playing really well and I would have thought that if Guy (Easterby) is ruled out, Kieran is in the box seat to come into the Irish 22. He's been the number three scrumhalf and he was on the tour to Japan."
Thus far, McCall has used only 18 players in his starting line-ups to date. His policy of selecting in midweek contrasts sharply with the other provinces, notably Connacht and Munster. Come last Saturday's kick-off at the Sportsground, Connacht made four changes and Munster one to the starting line-ups that were released the day before in what will hopefully be a one-off attempt to mislead each other, the media and the supporters.
Fixtures involving the four Irish provinces have been rescheduled over Christmas. Two games have been put back from before until after Christmas: the Ulster-Leinster game at Ravenhill will take place on Monday, December 26th, kicking off at 7.30pm, and Munster host Connacht on Tuesday December 27th at Thomond Park, with a 7.35pm kick-off. Leinster's home game against Munster reverts to New Year's Eve, with a 5.30pm kick-off.
London Irish are in line to reap the financial windfall of Jonah Lomu's first appearance for his new club Cardiff when hosting the Blues on the first weekend of December in the Powergen Cup. Lomu, according to himself, will be given the medical clearance following his shoulder operation to resume playing at the start of that month.
Likened to the somewhat undignified comebacks of Mike Tyson by one writer, this prompted Lomu to retort yesterday: "I've had 10 years of people doubting me and questioning me. That's nothing new. It's always been like that. There's only one person I need to prove a point to, and that's myself."
If his comeback remains on course, his first appearance in this country will not be until next April, when Cardiff visit Connacht.
Leinster report that advance sales on their website of their three-match packages for their European Cup games at the RDS are now at around 8,500, leaving only 5,000 still available.
Days Hotel, Galway, (formerly Galway Ryan) have confirmed their agreement to become the official hospitality sponsors of Connacht Rugby in a three year agreement worth €250,000.
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs, A Trimble, J Topping; D Humphreys, K Campbell; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, S Best (capt), J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacements: P Shields, B Young, R Frost, C Feather, I Boss, P Wallace, T Howe.
