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The first block of the Cara Cup Series will conclude on Sunday evening when the New England Free Jacks host Ulster ‘A’ at Union Point Sports Complex. Both sides tasted defeat against Connacht, with the Free Jacks overwhelmed last Saturday and Ulster finding a similar fate on Wednesday evening.
Injuries to Ross Kane, Peter Cooper, and Johnny McPhillips have left Ulster with only 21 fit players and paper-thin stocks in the front row. Callum Reid and Corrie Barrett will be asked to go a full 80 minutes at prop, and there is a start for David McCann on the flank in place of Caleb Montgomery.
Bruce Houston will play flyhalf in the absence of McPhillips, with Graham Curtis switching from wing to scrumhalf. The midfield is the same but the outside backs play some musical chairs with Jack Owens moving to fullback, Iwan Hughes to the right wing, and Ben McCaughey starting on the left.
The Free Jacks have made just one change to the starting lineup and four on the bench. One veteran replaces another as Owen Collins starts at inside center, with last weekend’s try scorer Peter Lupton missing out. Otherwise the run-on side is identical.
An unexpected arrival during the week was French loosehead prop Simon Courcoul who has somewhat mysteriously departed Austin Elite. Quentin Newcomer will cover the other side of the front row, and towering lock Ronan McCusker is fit to take up a spot on the bench. Bryan Ptomey takes up the No22 shirt left vacant from Collins’ promotion.
Judging by the results of the two games and the fact that Ulster will be on just three days rest, this should be a highly competitive contest and one that the Free Jacks will be targeting. The additions of Courcoul and McCusker in particular give them some added quality in the reserves, an area where Ulster are seriously compromised. New England first ever win could well be on the cards.
Kickoff is set for 6:30pm local time, 3:30pm Pacific, 10:30 GMT. A local broadcast will be available on NESNplus with unconfirmed streaming options on Twitch and YouTube.
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Tony Purpura, 2 Steven Hinshaw, 3 Dolph Botha, 4 Jackson Thiebes, 5 Conor Kindregan, 6 Owen Hundt, 7 Jon Kokinda, 8 Pago Haini, 9 Erik Thompson, 10 Tadhg Leader (capt.), 11 Stephen Dazzo, 12 Owen Collins, 13 Ahmad Harajly, 14 Christian Adams, 15 Danny Collins
Replacements: 16 Diego Maquieira, 17 Simon Courcoul, 18 Quentin Newcomer, 19 Aaron Cummings, 20 Ronan McCusker, 21 Oliver Engelhart, 22 Bryan Ptomey, 23 Peceli Rinakama
ULSTER ‘A’
1 Callum Reid, 2 Zack McCall, 3 Corrie Barrett, 4 JJ McKee, 5 Jack Regan, 6 Marcus Rea (capt.), 7 David McCann, 8 Joe Dunleavy, 9 Graham Curtis, 10 Bruce Houston, 11 Ben McCaughey, 12 Ben Power, 13 Stewart Moore, 14 Iwan Hughes, 15 Jack Owens
Replacements: 16 Claytan Milligan, 17 Caleb Montgomery, 18 Bradley Luney, 19 Lewis Finlay, 20 Charlie Clarke, 21 Michael Stronge
Date: Sunday, March 24
Venue: Union Point Sports Complex, Weymouth
Kickoff: 18:30 local (15:30 Pacific, 22:30 GMT)
Broadcasts: NESNplus, Twitch, YouTube
