There is a quietly held confidence at Ulster that something close to what is expected to be a fully loaded squad can go toe-to-toe with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).
Indeed, the province’s head coach Richie Murphy is reckoning on his team being able to create opportunities through their backline’s notable cutting edge and physicality to not only discomfort the hosts but even perhaps replicate Munster’s statement win over Leinster at Croke Park in October.
“Physically you have to be right on it,” Murphy said of this weekend’s return to URC action and the first of the festive interprovincials.
“I suppose Munster’s blueprint of how they stopped the Leinster momentum is something that people can learn from, but it takes a lot to be able to stop that juggernaut when it gets going.
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“They are the current champions, and I think people are being a little bit disrespectful saying that they’re not playing particularly well but are still winning.
“They’re a massively physical team. I think they’ve changed, they’ve got away from their DNA of being the sort of open, free-flowing rugby to playing a pressure, squeeze you and run over the top of you type team.
“They are beatable, but they lost two games in South Africa when their team wasn’t there and a Munster game when their team was just coming back together for the first run out.
“I still think they’re doing more than enough to win the games that are in front of them. It’s a massive challenge for us, our ability to play against that defence and get ourselves on the front foot is going to be huge.”
Ulster’s URC form – four wins from five gives to sit fourth, two spots ahead of Leinster with a game in hand – is a reflection of their strong attacking shape and inner belief, areas which ought not to have been dented by a rotated side suffering a last-gasp loss at Cardiff in the second round of the Challenge Cup last weekend.
“We approach this game in a better place, on the back of performances that we put in at the early parts of the season,” said Murphy.
“I think the belief in the squad is there. The other thing is that from an injury perspective, although we are missing some players, we’ve got most of our senior team available to us.”
Ulster are boosted by the availability of Stuart McCloskey, who has been sidelined with a groin issue since the November internationals, as well as fellow centre Jude Postlethwaite, who suffered a concussion in their opening round Challenge Cup victory over Racing 92.
Also helpful for Murphy is the return of long-term injury Ethan McIlroy, who has been out since last January following surgery on a torn ACL. Captain Iain Henderson (back), Rob Herring (knee) and Michael Lowry (ankle) remain unavailable.
