Ulster Announce Injury-Ridden Squad to Face Munster.

Well, it's been a little while. Between getting a new job, Christmas rolling around, and Covid delays, I haven't been writing much. What better time to get back into it than Ulster releasing their injury-ridden, Covid recovering, yet-still-weirdly-strong line-up for tomorrow.

Ulster's injury list is the biggest factor in how this unexpectedly strong squad has come together, here are all the players currently injured:

Brad Roberts, Tom Stewart, Marty Moore, Iain Henderson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Jordi Murphy, Matty Rea, Ian Madigan, Stewart Moore, McCloskey, Luke Marshall, Baloucoune, Stockdale, Will Addison.

With at least six nailed-on starters in the list, you begin to get a picture of just how dire things are for Ulster after just nine matches so far this season. However, looking at the team sheet, it's not the weak setup you might imagine with so many big names out of the picture.

Ulster's line-up consists of 8 players who have featured for Ireland, Aussie international, Sam Carter and Springbok talisman, Duane Vermeulen. With that being said, however, Ulster show no weakness in the spots where players aren't internationally capped. Mike Lowry, Alan O'Connor, and Ethan Mcilroy demonstrating an international cap isn't always in direct correlation to talent or importance to the squad.

The only area of the pitch where the injury list is really evident is in the centre. The reliable James Hume will be tested, moving from his usual 13 shirt with McCloskey to his left, to pulling on the 12 shirt himself with the twice-capped Ben Moxham taking on the outside centre role. Should Hume have a good game, like expected, then it'll be another way to show his worth to Andy Farrell ahead of the Six Nations. Being versatile has never hurt a player's selection chances. Whilst I acknowledge moving from 13 to 12 isn't exactly moving from winger to loosehead, it's still a change and a different number he can wear which inches him closer to another cap. Farrell will also be looking at how he can perform without his usual partner. Nothing wrong with having strong chemistry, but Hume will likely spend most of his time in green without McCloskey by his side, so he needs to be able to adapt to other types of 12's and 13's. The way he shoulders the centre responsibilities with such an inexperienced player by his side will be a great gauge for Ireland's coaching staff.

It seems that after a couple weeks of Covid going through the squad, no players appear to be left out due to its effects. This means no remaining cases and no lingering symptoms, rendering them unable to play. Of course, this is good for the squad but more importantly for the players themselves and their families.

Another lift to the squad will be all the contract news over the past few weeks. Players like Addison, McCloskey (who had received interest from abroad), Doak, McIlroy, Gilroy, Hume (the list goes on), and the all-important and much anticipated: John Cooney. There is no doubt Cooney received plenty of interest and likely a pretty penny from some French sides but as he said through a movie clip in a Twitter post, "I'm not f*ckin' leaving... this is my home". Good old Wolf of Wall Street saying it better than anyone else could. These contracts and Cooney's unequivocal message after months of speculation are such a statement of intent. Ulster are determined to keep and hire the best, and clearly, players are responding to this. If there was a poor environment at Ulster or players like Cooney and McCloskey didn't have faith that silverware is just around the corner, then it wouldn't be a shock to see them taking offers elsewhere. This is bound to filter through the squad, seeing the belief in the team and what has been cultivated by Dan McFarland since 2018.

Munster's squad has also faced some challenges, just off the back of a defeat to Connacht in a frustrating game, Damian de Allende out due to an abdominal injury, and no Conor Murray. Whilst Ulster have had their woes Munster are certainly not without some obstacles going into this game. O'Mahony puts his experience to use and Captains the side this week.