Just like that, it’s practically a full-strength InterPro.

There are a few big names missing – Farrell, Kleyn, Stander, Coetzee, Murphy – but almost everyone else that you would expect to feature in a full-strength game between these two clubs is either starting or coming off the bench. That’s good! And when you see what’s coming up next for both clubs – difficult, Champions Cup pool defining games away in France – this game provides just the right kind of accelerant. Depending on the blood and guts of this performance, both Munster and Ulster will know where they stand as they into the January whirlwind.

This feels like a big game, even with Paris on the horizon.

We’re on an LWLWL run over the last five games. We’ve had a difficult schedule, yes, and the pressures of enforced rotation due to the World Cup and compacted Champions Cup have hurt us, but you get the feeling that we’re still in search of a statement result this season.

There’d be no place better than the Kingspan against a very strong Ulster side to get started.

Ulster being without the ball carrying impact of Marcel Coetzee is a big loss but it’s far from a killer blow.

There isn’t a team in Europe that wouldn’t miss Coetzee – and Ulster know all about missing him – but he misses this game due to RTP protocols after his collision with Paddy McCallister in last week’s win over Connacht. Even without him, the Ulstermen have a lot of threats and a lot of size all the way through their attacking line. The nature of this festive season’s enforced rest for test players means that referencing Ulster’s loss in the RDS holds almost no relevance to this contest. The personnel are just too different.

If I was to pick two areas that Munster need to look out for in this game, it’d be Ulster’s kicking game and their how they leverage their edge attack into attacking momentum.

First, the kicking game.

If you watch Ulster for any period of time, you’d be hard-pressed not to notice the kicking game between Billy Burns and his outside backs. With Robert Baloucoune (6’4″) and Jacob Stockdale (6’3″) playing on the wing, I’d imagine that Ulster feel they’ve got a strong advantage under the high ball but it’s how they generate those high ball scenarios that’s the thing. They almost always do it in the aftermath of a won transition event of a series of tight gainline carries.

Here’s an example;

This one didn’t work out but it’s an excellent example of how Ulster like to get these kicks into position.

Ulster won back a contestable kick – Tiernan O’Halloran had a desperate game under the high ball for Connacht and we’ll need big games from our back three in this regard – and put Burns onto the ball moving forward at an angle.

The threat of Stuart McCloskey’s carrying and Will Addison’s creative use of the ball from fullback will usually keep the edge of the primary defensive line in place and that creates kickable space and targets for Burns in behind.

It’s hard to stop Ulster from making those kicks but preventing them from getting the flat advanced angles that allow Burns to kick coming forward. Denying Ulster the transition events that give them this momentum is crucial and our back three’s work on the high ball will be really important. We fell down a bit in this area against Leinster on our own ball but our defensive work will be even more important.

Connacht gave up multiple contestable kicks and Ulster won a tonne of cheap metres as a result.

If we can hem in Ulster’s forwards – and Coetzee’s absence helps us here – then it’ll be on our midfield and back row to ensure McCloskey can’t generate the wide ruck points that Ulster love playing off.

The established threat of Burns’ kicking brings in his kick feint – shown below – which is worth keeping an eye on as we pivot to Ulster’s edge attacking.

Once they hit the hinge between forwards and backs – usually through McCloskey – they are very good at getting the ball into the 15m channel and Addison, in particular, is lethal in these spaces.

You can see Coetzee hitting this space here and the dominant gainline win coupled with quick ball gives Addison the space he needs to make a killer play up against Daly on the edge.

Ulster would score a try a few seconds later, with Cooney tracking in behind the break and linking the play together.

If Ulster are finding it difficult to move the ball through the hammer zone, they put hands through the ball to hit that space on the edge of the heavy of the forwards.

They go after that target space twice here through Treadwell and then Burns on a screen.

Both times the target was the same and they went after it for the same reason.

When Ulster get a workable angle, they get the ball to Addison who can break the line and bring others into the game with the slightest opening.

Denying access to that space by repelling their forward push and then stopping that wider strike behind the gain line OR with a slow reset is the key to taking away their edge space threats.

If Munster can produce some dominant stops and win collisions of our own – Botha will help this – then we have halfbacks that can dictate where this game is played and how it’s played.

Carbery’s loop around Scannell with a grubber through to Conway, Daly or Earls running behind Marshall and Stockdale on the turn will be a good option for us if we can up Rea and Reidy on their defensive edge.