With the opening weekend of European action almost upon us, Ulster have mixed news on the injury front while Johnny Sexton is feeling the heat at Racing Metro.
Mark Anscombe will have to do without the services of Craig Gilroy after he picked up a knock in the win over the Ospreys ahead of Friday night’s clash with Leicester, but another Irish winger is pushing for a return to action.
Tommy Bowe has only played one game so far this season but is primed for action in what would be a huge boost to the home side ahead of a titanic clash against the Tigers, which could go a long way to deciding the destiny of the Pool.
In France, the vultures have been circling over Racing, even at this early stage after their average start to the season, especially after their disappointing reversal to Grenoble at the weekend. And it doesn’t get any easier when they entertain Top 14 rivals Clermont in their opening Pool game.
Coach Laurent Labit has said that many of the players put in very poor performances in the weekend’s defeat and said that management will “leave out the CVs and labels of the players we have available when it comes to picking our team”, with French media speculating on some of the bigger names that could pay a price this weekend.
That could apply to a whole host of players, but Sexton will be aware of the comments, though with Jonathan Wisniewski out injured, we would still be surprised if he wasn’t in the number 10 jersey for the visit of Clermont. Especially as he has been one of their better performers this campaign.
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