McCloskey Expresses Preference for Previous Champions Cup Format

Stuart McCloskey is set to achieve his 45th Champions Cup cap for Ulster this weekend. The Investec Champions Cup fixture will see Toulouse host Ulster at Ernest Stade-Wallon in Toulouse on Sunday, 8 December, with kick-off scheduled for 15:15 GMT. Coverage will be available via BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, and Radio Ulster, alongside text updates on the BBC Sport website and app. Stuart McCloskey of Ulster has stated his preference for the Investec Champions Cup’s former format, noting that the current structure can result in teams facing an “absolutely terrible draw”. Under the previous system, teams competed against their pool adversaries both at home and away. However, this season, Ulster’s four pool matches include away games against current champions Toulouse and Leicester, and home fixtures against Bordeaux and Exeter in Belfast. In the previous season, Ulster did not advance to the knockout stages following losses to Bath, Toulouse, and Harlequins. McCloskey remarked, “I preferred the old one, I think most people do. I’ve spoken to most players and they all prefer the old way. I know it’s probably less games and we should prefer that because it’s probably better on the bodies, but I preferred the old way.” McCloskey further commented that he found the prior arrangement “a bit more cut and dry with what you had to do.” He elaborated, “I really liked that home and away [fixtures against the same club], like that fixture around Christmas. We had the Toulouse one eight or nine years ago [in the 2015-16 competition]. There are some years with this one that you seem to get an absolutely terrible draw. You could say our draw isn’t particularly great with the fact we’ve got first and second in the Top 14 [Toulouse and Bordeaux] in the first two games.” Following his return from Ireland international duty, McCloskey is scheduled to make his initial Ulster appearance since October during Sunday’s Pool 1 encounter against six-time champions Toulouse. The 32-year-old player featured only once as a substitute in Ireland’s victory against Fiji, as head coach Andy Farrell opted to start Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose, and Robbie Henshaw in the midfield positions. Although McCloskey acknowledges the caliber of players ranked above him, he confessed that his persistent challenge to secure Test starts “does get frustrating after a while”. He stated, “I know I haven’t played an awful lot with Ireland over the past three or four years but I’ve been down [in camp] a lot. It’s a great environment and I do love being there, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to actually get back and play a good bit more rugby here and hopefully push my case going forward for the Ireland jersey. I still think I’ve a few more good years left in me so I want to put my best foot forward here. I’d have loved to play a bit more. I thought I did well when I came on against Fiji, usual story, but look I’ll see how I can get on in the next six weeks before the Six Nations and hopefully push my way on to the team.” McCloskey was in the starting lineup for Ulster’s 48-24 defeat against Toulouse in Belfast during the pool stage of the previous season. Ulster’s season has seen a varied performance, with three victories and four losses in the United Rugby Championship. The team has suffered defeats in their most recent two matches, occurring before and after the international break, against Cardiff and Leinster. McCloskey acknowledged that Ulster are significant underdogs facing Toulouse, a team that has averaged 30 points per game in the current Top 14 season. During their pool stage encounter last season, French international players Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos were key figures in Toulouse’s 48-24 triumph in Belfast. McCloskey admitted, “I don’t think you can completely stop” the reigning champions’ star players. He outlined their approach: “You can try and contain them. They’ve broken down the best teams in the world, but for us it’s staying in the fight: don’t let them run away and score easy tries, make them work for every point and don’t let them go through the middle of us. But [it’s] also [about] hitting them when we have chances as well and getting back in it. I don’t think this is a game we’ll win by scoring 10 or 15 points, we’ll have to score 30 or 40.”