Saturday the 28th April sees the biggest club game in Scottish rugby history take place in Dublin's Aviva Stadium, where Edinburgh take on Ulster for a place in the final of European rugby's premier competition, the Heineken Cup.
Looking at the fixture from a Scottish perspective, Edinburgh will be hoping that focusing on the Heineken Cup in the latter part of this season will pay off for them, in spite of the resulting poor performances in the RaboDirect Pro 12. Having lost their last two games in the league, and quite heavily also, to current European champions Leinster and the Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh sit just second-bottom in the Pro12.
Edinburgh are expected to be huge underdogs once again, with Ulster defeating English champions, Saracens, en-route to the semi-finals and have won four out of their last five league games.
Normally, such a positioning would prove to be the result of a poor season, but this year Edinburgh have proved that they can compete on the greatest stage of club rugby against some of the best teams in Europe, and have earned their place in the semi-finals. Playing exactly three weeks since their unexpected and hard-fought victory against four-time European champions, Toulouse.
Looking to the match itself, Ulster are without in-form Number 8, Chris Henry and suspended All Black Prop, John Afoa. However, Irish international Centre Paddy Wallace and South African international Flanker, Pedrie Wannenburg return following concerns over their fitness. As expected, Stephen Ferris, Dan Tuohy and Rory Best all return for Ulster after being rested for the Leinster game in the Pro12.
Edinburgh, having named a second-string side against the Blues last week, see Tim Visser, Lee Jones and Tom Brown all return to their back three, whilst Matt Scott and Nick De Luca start at centre. Scottish international half-back pairing Mike Blair and Grieg Laidlaw return, with Laidlaw captaining the side. In the forwards, Scotland captain, Ross Ford, is back in the front row alongside fellow internationals Geoff Cross and Allan Jacobsen. Sean Cox and Grant Gilchrist come back into the second row, and the successful back row team of David Denton, Ross Rennie and Netani Talei are also reunited.
Edinburgh will need to use the confidence gained from their phenomenal defeat of Toulouse three weeks ago and play with strength and passion, otherwise the technically superior Ulster will be the ones walking out at Twickenham on Saturday the 19th May.
Ulster: Stefan Terblanche; Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Craig Gilroy; Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar; Tom Court, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick; Johann Muller (captain), Dan Tuohy; Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg
Replacements: Nigel Brady, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Lewis Stevenson, Robbie Diack, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Adam D'Arcy
Edinburgh: Tom Brown; Lee Jones, Nick De Luca, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Greig Laidlaw (captain), Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Grant Gilchrist, Sean Cox, David Denton, Ross Rennie, Netani Talei
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, Jack Gilding, Steven Turnbull, Roddy Grant, Chris Leck, Phil Godman, Jim Thompson
Saturday 28th April 2012, Aviva Stadium, Dublin (kick-off 5.45pm).
