The highly anticipated Interpro will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 1st, with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals against either Leicester Tigers or Edinburgh.

The game will be broadcast live and free on RTÉ.

With a potential sellout crowd of 50,000 expected, this match is sure to be one of the tournament’s highlights.

Munster will also be in action on April 1st, when they take on the Cell C Sharks in Durban, with the possibility of facing Toulouse or the Vodacom Bulls in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Connacht’s last-16 Challenge Cup match against Benneton has been scheduled for 3 p.m. on April 1st at Stadio di Monigo. in Treviso. The stage is set for an unforgettable weekend of European Rugby action

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The New Zealander previously managed Ulster for a season in 2017-18 – the last year in which Ulster missed the Pro14 playoffs.

He returned to New Zealand to coach Waikato instead of seeing out his contract after an underwhelming season.

Gibbes took the Clermont job after spending time with Ronan O’Gara at La Rochelle, leading them to the Champions Cup final last season.

However, his start to life in France has been a mixed bag with impressive wins and poor losses galore.

Dan McFarland’s Ulster have been a far more consistent outfit as a whole but their form in recent weeks has failed to back that up.

The provincial outfit will be hoping to bounce back from defeat to Ospreys with a victory over the three-time Challenge Cup champions.

Their strength as a team grows every year and they are expected to get better with the arrival of new signing Duane Vermuelen.

The World Cup-winning Springbok will make his debut for the Ulstermen this weekend after recovering from Covid-19 following the end of his international duty for the year.

Former Munster fly-half JJ Hanrahan will wear the number 10 shirt for the French outfit hosting the Irish province.

The likes Peceli Yato and Damian Penaud also appear in the starting XV but four players miss out due to Covid – one confirmed case, one close contact and two unvaccinated players.

Teams

Clermont Auvergne

Ulster

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Kieran Treadwell, Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen;

Replacements: John Andrew, Jack McGrath, Ross Kane, Sam Carter, Greg Jones, Sean Reidy, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore.

Odds

Clermont Auvergne 4/9

Draw 17/1

Ulster 9/5

Where To Watch

The game kicks off at 5:300 pm and will be shown live on BT Sport 3 – coverage starts at 5:15 pm.

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McGrath has struggled with injury in recent years but will be remembered for playing his part in Donegal’s second All-Ireland triumph in 2012.

The corner-back was an All-Star nominee in Donegal’s All-Ireland winning year after several top performances helped play a part in his side’s journey to the summit of Gaelic football.

The Ardara man was in Croke Park in September once again in 2014 as Jim McGuinness brought the county to their second All-Ireland final in three years.

However, that day was not to be as Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s Kerry bridged a five-year gap to earn their 37th Sam Maguire.

“To have played for Donegal just once, I never would have imagined that as a wee fella growing up,” McGrath told the Donegal News.

“But to have had 12 years and some medals to go along with it, it’s been amazing.

“The friends made and just the honour of wearing my county’s colours, it’s the stuff of dreams.”

McGrath was among the many players that made the leap from under-21 to senior football with ease for Donegal after finishing second in the U21 All-Ireland Championship.

John Joe Doherty gave the defender his senior debut for the county in an Ulster Senior Football Championship loss to Down in 2010 but McGuinness, who managed the U21s at that time, came in for 2011 and took the team to new heights.

Three Ulster titles followed under McGuinness, on top of the All-Ireland triumph but Donegal regressed under Rory Gallagher, who succeeded the All-Ireland winning coach and former All-Irelan winning player.

McGrath remained a mainstay in the side throughout Gallagher’s reign and in the early period of current boss Declan Bonner’s second term with the county.

He picked up his fourth and fifth Ulster titles under Bonner in 2018 and 2019, becoming a centurion for the county in the latter season, before an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Mayo in the All-Ireland Super 8s began the end of his career.

His club Ardara praised him on social media after announcing his retirement from the inter-county scene on Monday morning: “Paddy finally bows out from County football after a fantastic career. Donegal’s loss is Ardara’s gain and we look forward to seeing him for many more years in our own green and gold jersey inspiring the next generation of Ardara footballers.

“What a career @mcgrath_2..!”

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Ulster holders Kilcoo dispatched of Cavan champions Ramor United with ease after conceding a goal in the sixth minute.

The Down side pulled into the lead and never looked back after Ramor found the net, scoring three goals themselves as they won by 11 points.

The next day, Derry champions Glen took down Scotstown of Monaghan to ensure that they will face Kilcoo in the semi-finals.

Head Coach Malachy O’Rourke outwitted Scotstown’s system and their long kickouts – the former Monaghan boss nurtured Beggan throughout his time with The Farney Army and helped him to become the player he is today.

Being able to take away his former goalkeeper’s strengths with bodies in midfield led Glen deeper into the Ulster Championship as they posted a nine-point victory over the four-time Ulster victors.

The upcoming matchup between Kilcoo and Glen could be one of the games of the year as two sides in red-hot form will fight for their right to be in the Ulster final.

On the other side of the draw, the Fermanagh and Armagh champions will go head-to-head for the other spot in the provincial final.

Fermanagh’s Derrygonnelly Harps beat Tyrone’s Dromore with 14 men after extra time to seal their spot in the final four of the competition.

Conall Jones scored a late equaliser in normal time to send them into extra time and helped them pull away from the Red Hand’s finest team of 2021 before picking up a second yellow.

Stephen McGullion confirmed the win when he punched home the only goal of the game, after Dromore had also been reduced to 14 men.

Armagh champions Clann Éireann also went to extra time in their quarter-final against Kickham’s Creggan.

The Clann came back from a seven-point deficit in the second half to achieve a three-point victory over the Antrim men.

Late scores sent the game to extra-time and the Armagh side pulled away in the last period of the game, with Daniel Magee’s goal sealing their progression in Ulster.

Both semi-finals are scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 19, with the final set to be played on Sunday, January 16, 2022.

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Ulster bounced back from a heavy defeat to Connacht to take down the Pro 14 champions and swap opponents with the Westerners this week, as Connacht beat Ospreys last week and now face Leinster on Friday night.

Ospreys are hoping to avoid a third loss of the season after the heavy defeat to Andy Friend’s men, just like Ulster did.

Ulster winger Craig Gilroy is set to make his 200th appearance for the side – he will become their eighth double-centurion on the men’s team if he gets minutes from the bench.

Robert Baloucoune and Bradley Roberts have returned to the starting lineup after spending time with Ireland and Wales respectively for the Autumn Nations Series.

Jack McGrath makes his return to the Ulster side after recovering from injury and is named among the replacements.

Although named on the bench last week versus Leinster, Tom Stewart wasn’t called upon, so could make his senior debut on Saturday as he is selected again in the replacements.

Last week’s try-scorer James Hume will miss out.

Ospreys welcome several members of the side back into the squad after injuries and international duty – Alex Cuthbert and Tomas Francis are among those returning.

Michael Collins (not the revolutionary) starts at 13 after a spell on the sidelines.

Captain Rhys Webb and Stephen Myler will aim to impose themselves on their opponents more than they did last week after strong starts to the season.

Dan McFarland’s men sit joint-top of the table – a bonus-point win could help them claim top ahead of Leinster.

Ospreys, on the other hand, can move into the top four with a victory – albeit, ahead of Munster who have only played five games.

Teams

Ulster

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, Angus Curtis, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Bradley Roberts, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney, David McCann.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Jack McGrath, Marty Moore, Mick Kearney, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Craig Gilroy.

Ospreys

(15-9) Dan Evans, Alex Cuthbert, Michael Collins, Owen Watkin, Luke Morgan, Stephen Myler, Rhys Webb (C);

(1-8) Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Tomas Francis, Rhys Davies, Bradley Davies, Will Griffiths, Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris.

Replacements: Elvis Taione, Nicky Smith, Tom Botha, Jack Regan, Ethan Roots, Reuben Morgan Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler.

Odds

Ospreys 11/5

Draw 19/1

Ulster 4/11

Where To Watch

The match will be available to watch live on Premier Sports 2 and URC TV.

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Gilroy makes way for Robert Baloucoune, who starts in the back three alongside Mike Lowry and Ethan McIlroy.

James Hume will not appear for the side after his game-winning interception against Leinster – Angus Curtis replaces him at 13 with McCloskey retaining the number 12 shirt.

John Cooney and Billy Burns have been named scrum-half and out-half respectively.

Wales international Bradley Roberts will come in to start at hooker, with Eric O’Sullivan and Tom O’Toole on either side of him in the front row.

Alan O’Connor will captain the team and is named in the second row alongside Kieran Treadwell.

Sean Reidy comes in to start at blindside, with Nick Timoney at openside and David McCann completing the base of the pack.

Jack McGrath makes his return to the Ulster side after recovering from injury and is named among the replacements.

Although named on the bench last week versus Leinster, Tom Stewart wasn’t called upon, so could make his senior debut on Saturday as he is selected again in the replacements.

Gilroy, Nathan Doak and Mick Kearney are among those also on the bench.

Ulster team v Ospreys

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, Angus Curtis, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Bradley Roberts, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney, David McCann.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Jack McGrath, Marty Moore, Mick Kearney, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Craig Gilroy.

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The 28-year-old joined up with the boys in green ahead of their final game of the Autumn Nations Series.

Gibson-Park had orchestrated the Ireland attack alongside Johnny Sexton in victories over Japan and New Zealand before being ruled out.

McGrath did not get back onto the pitch in green but noted that the time he spent with the squad was valuable.

“It was great,” McGrath exclaimed. “It’s obviously been a long time since I was in but it was nice to go in after they beat New Zealand, you know, they were in great spirits.

“To be there for the rest of the Argentina week was great, even to be an extra just on game day kinda – you know, there was a while where I was very far away from that so it’s nice to be back in the mix and, like I say, hopefully, I’ll be able to get a couple odd more Irish caps in the future.

“But the only way I can do that is by playing well with Leinster, so that’s kinda where my focus is at the minute but it was a great experience.”

McGrath has appeared five times for Leinster this season, with four starts to his name and captained the side in their interprovincial clash with Ulster.

Their rivals got the upper hand on them at the RDS on the day as Dan McFarland’s men registered their first win over the boys in blue since April 2019.

Leinster were dominated for the majority of the game and were unable to deal with their linespeed and quality in the breakdown.

Ulster manipulated space against the Pro 14 champions really well, especially at the start of the game.

McGrath’s opposite number, John Cooney called three-man pods often to bring Leinster’s concentration towards the ball and not the wide men, leading to some enticing chances when the number nine chose to go down that avenue.

Connacht star Jack Carty is known to use space to his advantage and has thrived this season with Mack Hansen and him forming a dynamic duo.

Hansen has started life in the West of Ireland like a house on fire and his energy and speed caused lots of problems for the Ospreys defence last week at the Sportsground.

“We did watch a bit of the Ospreys game [Monday] morning and Jack used his kicking game really well.

“You know, Ulster, like you say, were very effective against us around the ruck, they tightened us up very well and, like you say, took the edges so maybe Connacht might use a bit more of that template this week – again, it’s kind of hard to know.

“But, like you say, Jack’s playing really well at the minute. His kicking game is so effective – it was definitely very effective against us in the RDS last year when they beat us.

“Connacht have a load of threats – Hansen’s playing really well as well so, you know, it’s gonna be a massive defensive effort from us but, yeah look, we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

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On Saturday evening at 6 pm, Cavan champions Ramor United will host the reigning Ulster champions Kilcoo, who won the last instalment of the competition in 2019 and are aiming to defend their title – the match will be shown live on RTÉ.

On Sunday afternoon at 3:15 pm, preliminary round victors Glen will welcome 2018 finalists Scotstown to Derry in their second-ever Ulster championship game – this match will be broadcast on TG4.

The two matches share their spotlight with the Leinster senior showdown between Kilmacud Crokes and Wolfe Tones, which will take place before Malachy O’Rourke’s Derry champions welcome a Monaghan side to Watty Graham Park.

Cavan champions Ramor United earned their spot in the Ulster quarter-finals after beating rivals Gowna in a replay.

Their opponents almost stole the Oliver Plunkett Cup from them at the death in the first fixture but Ramor made no mistake in the replay to get their hands on the trophy for the first time in five years.

Kilcoo came out on top in Down for the third year in a row to earn the match-up against Ramor.

The Magpies held off a late comeback charge from Burren to take the crown for the fifth time in six years.

Glen beat Donegal’s victors, St Eunan’s to get to the quarter-final after a first-ever Derry senior football triumph.

Led by former Monaghan inter-county boss Malachy O’Rourke, the team are flying in the club championship this year and could upset the natural order.

Scotstown won their 21st Mick Duffy Cup when they defeated Truagh in the Monaghan county final – a feat they achieved in their ninth county final in a row (record: 7W 2L).

They retained the cup after their 2020 victory and will aim for the Ulster title now, with O’Rourke and co. standing in their way at the first hurdle.

Two other Ulster senior football matches will take place this weekend – Tyrone champions Dromore face Derrygonnelly Harps of Fermanagh while Kickhams of Creggan, Antrim will battle it out with Armagh outfit Clann Éireann.

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The teams are hoping to leave South Africa today after United Rugby Championship’s South African games for rounds six and seven were postponed.

The four South African sides in the competition have yet to play a home game in their new competition and the upcoming rounds of rugby were set to correct that.

Leinster are not due to travel to South Africa until later this season and instead have two interprovincial clashes to look forward to against Ulster and Connacht.

However, Head Coach Cullen acknowledged the situation in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“It’s not great news, our thoughts are with the people trying to get themselves out of there, hopefully, that’ll all play out over the next couple of days,” Cullen said.

“Presumably there’ll be some sort of plan put in place to reschedule the games, at least there are plenty of free weekends during the Six Nations from a logistics point of view, so we’ll see how it plays out.”

Most teams in the competition currently face a 10-week-long stretch of games before the next international break.

Cullen said that he has not been made aware of any contingency plans in place regarding situations such as these, other than the previous talk of the South African ‘home’ games being held in Italy.

The URC organisers now face a scheduling headache as they scramble to fit the postponed fixtures into the season.

“There are bigger concerns than rugby matches I’m sure. We’ll see how it plays out but from our point of view we’re playing two interprovincial derbies in the next two weekends and then we’re into Europe so nothing changes drastically from our point of view.”

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Leinster will come into the game with their unbeaten record once again placed on the line as they look to strengthen their strong start to the season to six wins from six.

Ulster, on the other hand, are hoping to bounce back from a poor defeat to Connacht at the Aviva Stadium before action stopped for the Autumn Internationals.

However, Dan McFarland’s have not beaten the boys in blue since April 2019 and Leo Cullen and co. will aim to keep it that way.

Will Connors has returned for Leinster and will take his place on the bench after his knee injury.

Ireland internationals Jack Conan, Jamison Gibson-Park and provincial and national Johnny Sexton are unavailable for selection.

Ulster captain Iain Henderson suffered a hamstring injury during the warm-up for Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series game against Argentina on Sunday and joins the injury list at the province.

Teams

Leinster

15. Jimmy O’Brien (36)
14. Adam Byrne (59)
13. Robbie Henshaw (57)
12. Ciarán Frawley (40)
11. Jordan Larmour (64)
10. Ross Byrne (108)
9. Luke McGrath (155) CAPTAIN

1. Ed Byrne (74)
2. James Tracy (131)
3. Tadhg Furlong (116)
4. Ross Molony (121)
5. Devin Toner (268)
6. Dan Leavy (75)
7. Scott Penny (30)
8. Rhys Ruddock (193)

Replacements:

16. Seán Cronin (196)
17. Peter Dooley (94)
18. Vakh Abdaladze (12)
19. Max Deegan (68)
20. Will Connors (23)
21. Nick McCarthy (38)
22. Harry Byrne (25)
23. Tommy O’Brien (10)

Ulster

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Craig Gilroy, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Sam Carter, Greg Jones, Nick Timoney, David McCann.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Eric O’Sullivan, Ross Kane, Mick Kearney, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Angus Curtis, Rob Lyttle.

Odds

Leinster 1/7

Draw 25/1

Ulster 9/2

Where To Watch

The game will be available to watch live on RTE 2, Premier Sports and URC TV.

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