Latest Emerging Ireland tour still a balancing act

Cormac Izuchukwu and Harry Sheridan have become key figures at Ulster under Richie Murphy

While it was the veteran presence of replacement scrum-half David Shanahan who stole the headlines thanks to his 84th minute game-winner, there was no denying that Ulster's URC victory over champions Glasgow last weekend owed plenty to their bench as a whole.

With a youthful squad, perhaps lacking as many star names as in seasons gone by, depth was not presumed to be a particular strength of the northern province in 2024-25. Yet when head coach Richie Murphy began his alterations on Saturday, it coincided with his side's first real spell of superiority in the contest.

Andy Warwick and Tom O'Toole provided some stability at the set-piece, while Shanahan injected tempo long before his match-winning turn with the last play of the game.

But in a contest where Murphy admitted his side had initially struggled to match "the strength and power" of the Warriors, the physicality injected by Harry Sheridan and Cormac Izuchukwu stood out.

The side's new forwards coach Jimmy Duffy has certainly been impressed by the young pair, saying they were exciting not just for Ulster but for Ireland too.

"Number one is they're real competitors and very, very driven," he said.

"Those two, I don't know where their ceiling is and that's exciting from an Ulster and an Ireland perspective.

"Huge humans and athletes, they love the game, they like to think about the game and they're willing to work hard."

Unfortunately for Ulster, they will now be without the increasingly key pair for their two-game trip to South Africa as both are included in the Emerging Ireland panel headed for the same country this week.

"It is what it is," said the province's head coach Murphy, whose son Jack, a member of the Ulster Academy, will also travel with the squad.

"We are talking about strength in our squad so we need to build that."

Emerging Ireland, a selection of young and up and coming talent drawn from the provinces, will play three matches in South Africa against the Pumas (2 October), Western Force (6 October) and the Cheetahs (9 October).

Such trips will always require a balance between the long-term hopes for the national side and the short-term ambitions for the provinces with head coach Simon Easterby saying there had been "constant conversations" between the two over squad selection before confirmation of the 33-man panel.

Ulster sent nine players, including Izuchukwu, on the last Emerging Ireland tour two years ago

In all, Ulster will have six players on the three-game tour, but one suspects the absence of Izuchukwu and Sheridan will be felt most keenly by the side who lack the same depth as Leinster and Munster.

Sheridan, who signed a two-year extension last week, made his debut for the province away to then European champions La Rochelle in 2023, impressing in how he faced up to that challenge and with the edge that he has brought to the team since.

Izuchukwu, a former Ireland Sevens player who arrived at Kingspan Stadium raw but with huge athletic potential, went from the fringes of the squad last spring to a senior Ireland call-up in the summer having been one of the prime beneficiaries of Murphy's mid-season appointment.

The 24-year-old was not capped by Andy Farrell on that South African tour and Easterby has said they will look at him as more of a lock than a flanker as they aim "to grow his experience".

There will certainly be some Ulster supporters feeling he would be better served doing so in competitive URC fixtures for his province and the staging of an Emerging Ireland tour in the opening weeks of a provincial season has again proven to be a divisive issue.

There is clearly a benefit to being exposed to the Irish coaching set-up and methods, while Jack Crowley, Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash were all on the most recent trip two seasons ago before becoming key contributors for Andy Farrell's side in the years since.

Former Ireland Under-20s coach Murphy also spoke of the "honour" of wearing a green jersey at any level.

"With some guys going to Emerging Ireland they'll come back to us in a place where they are massively motivated to get a senior Ireland cap," he said.

"They'll also be given feedback on things they need to work on. What we hope is that reinforces the information we have already given them and it gives us an opportunity to have a look at other players.

"It is a funny time of the season but there's a lot of positives as well."