Ulster entitled to believe in dreams

It doesn't get much bigger than this, and in Ulster's case it never has; a European Cup quarter-final at home, a capacity Ravenhill, and the crack French outfit Toulouse as visitors. As the old cliche goes, anything from here on in is a bonus; Ulster's season is already in credit.

Yet they are entitled to dream some more. They have after all, beaten Toulouse at Ravenhill already in the pool stages. They need have no truck with that accursed inferiority complex which bedevils Irish sides. They can believe in their dreams.

That they have Toulouse at home is a bonus of near lottery proportions. It's only when you think back on that improbable (nay, impossible) 100 point turnaround which saw Toulouse lose their return match with Ebbw Vale, and in the process lose their heads, that you remember what an unlikely scenario this is.

No harm then, if Ravenhill is at its most inhospitable, and the only warm air is generated by the 12,000 crowd on an otherwise cold night. If it's wet and windy, all the better. Even the Toulouse players might start to think "how the hell did we let it come to this, when we could have had a nice quarter-final at home".

For as bad as the imbalance is between Irish sides' home and away form, with the French the extremes are even greater. Toulouse's home record of one defeat in 14 European ties speaks for itself. Away from home though, they've lost four of 10 - with just three wins in seven trips to Britain and Ireland. Aside from the defeats to Ulster and Ebbw Vale on the road this year, they were hard pressed to win in Edinburgh and in previous years lost 37-11 to Leicester and, most famously, by 77-17 to Wasps.

This week's disciplinary hearings against Franck Tournaire and the club in general, though brushed under the carpet, will either make them more conscious of their discipline, or more brittle.

They also appear to have pulled a bit of a fast one in having Lee Stensness declared eligible for the former All Black and Auckland Blues' centre's debut in this competition. (Although Perpignan are rightly angered that Scott Quinnell, who played for Richmond until October, can be deemed eligible for Llanelli's quarter-final, which is typical of ERC's arbitrary rule. How, for example, can Eric Miller therefore not be eligible for Ulster?)

Against that, as it happens, the bold Tournaire is apparently injured - the focus on him might have been too intense anyway.

Furthermore, Emile N'tamack picked up a knee injury in training on Wednesday while their tactical lynchpin and brains of the team, Christophe Deylaud is also injured.

Nonetheless, the innaugural 1996 winners still have a serious-looking team. Stensness is accompanied by nine French internationals. Guy Noves has clearly opted for a team that can play, and so utilise the electric pace of the outside three - Michel Marfaing, Stefan Ougier and Xavier Garbajosa.

Inside of them are playmakers like Delaigue and Stensness, though neither is noted for their tackling; especially Delaigue.

Stensness, a gifted 27-year-old, has bulked up in rectifying a much criticised defensive game of years ago, but is still capable of taking a little too much on himself and throwing in a bad one.

Delaigue, terrific left boot though he has (his touchline conversion beating Leicester at Welford Road last season), could be the weak link in the chain if Ulster can get Andy Ward charging at him or David Humphreys jinking at him.

However, there is a doubt about Ward's availability, as his wife is overdue on their first baby, and goes into hospital this morning to be induced.

Given this is the same pack, a key for Ulster will be a strong scrum - it creaked a little in the last game. The change at centre, with Stanley McDowell returning to partner Jonathan Bell, shouldn't undermine them too much, although Stephen Bell may be a loss at scrum-half, especially as Andy Matchett's leftfootedness limits their defensive kicking options from the base of the scrum.

They can counter Toulouse's 10 internationals with six of their own. Indeed, aside from being a revealing test of just how much the Irish provinces have progressed this year, it's also an interesting microcosm of the Five Nations' opener in Dublin.

But whatever psychological strides Ulster may have taken from the first meeting ought to be equalled by the lessons Toulouse should have learned. For starters, they'll be more conscious of Simon Mason's prodigious right boot and are unlikely to give Ulster an early 12-point buffer again.

Ulster must have a real chance, though the five-week break won't have helped them and ultimately, you'd still have to expect them to have the all-round class and strength in depth to pull through.

Ulster: S Mason; S Coulter, S McDowell, J Bell, J Cunningham; D Humphreys (capt), A Matchett; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements - A Park, B Cunningham, M Edwards, D Topping, S Duncan, G Leslie, R Weir.

Toulouse: S Ougier; X Garbajosa, R Paillat, L Stensness, M Marfaing; Y Delaigue, J Cazalbou (capt); C Califano, Y Bru, J-L Jordana, F Belot, F Pelous, C Labit, S Dispagne, D Lacroix. Replacements - J Tilloles, C Desbrosse, P Lapoutge, M Lievremont, H Miorin, I Mafutuna, P Saula.

Referee: B Campsall (England).

Saracens welcome back a batch of Test players for their home Premiership game against London Irish on Sunday, including England scrum-half, Kyran Bracken, who has missed six weeks with a back problem.

Three-quarters Brendon Daniel and Ryan Constable are again fit to start, and stand-off Alain Penaud has recovered from a dead leg.