Ulster captain Iain Henderson has been restored to the starting line-up for their trip to Cardiff on Saturday (7.35pm kick-off), the province’s final United Rugby Championship match of the opening block of the season.
The skipper, who was recalled to Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad for the upcoming November Test series on Wednesday, has successfully passed the return to play protocol after suffering a concussion against Connacht and returns to the match day squad after missing last week’s win over the Ospreys.
Head coach Richie Murphy is able to call upon five of his seven Ireland call-ups for the trip to the Welsh capital as Henderson and Nick Timoney are restored to the side after missing the Ospreys game alongside Stuart McCloskey, Tom O’Toole and Cormac Izuchukwu.
The two to miss out are hooker Rob Herring, who remains out with a long-term calf injury but is expected to be fit for the All Blacks clash on November 8, and winger Jacob Stockdale, who is absent for the first time this campaign having been given a rest after starting Ulster’s first five games of the season.
With Stockdale missing, Aidan Morgan remains the only player to start all six of Ulster’s competitive games thus far as he continues at fly-half, with Murphy opting to keep faith with the majority of the side that downed the Ospreys a week ago.
Full-back Ethan McIlroy, outside centre Jude Postlethwaite, scrum-half Nathan Doak and lock Kieran Treadwell are also introduced to a starting line-up that shows just six changes from last week.
McIlroy is restored to the back three in place of Stockdale, with Mike Lowry switching from full-back to the left wing to accommodate McIlroy’s return, with Werner Kok continuing on the right wing.
The returning Postlethwaite partners McCloskey in the midfield, making it Ulster’s fifth different centre pairing in their first six games of the season, with Doak completing the back-line at scrum-half alongside Morgan.
An unchanged front row sees hooker James McCormick preferred to John Andrew, with Eric O’Sullivan and O’Toole taking the prop berths, with captain Henderson joined by Treadwell in the second row.
David McCann retains the number eight jersey with Timoney instead shifting to openside flanker return, with Izuchukwu rounding off the run-on team at blindside.
Murphy has opted for Marcus Rea on the bench despite the return from injury of Sean Reffell, while John Cooney, Ben Carson and Ben Moxham will be asked to cover the backs.
In the front row, Andrew, Andrew Warwick and Scott Wilson will be utilised to provide an impact in the second half, while Emerging Ireland star Harry Sheridan completes the match day squad as the final forwards substitute.
Ulster are looking to finish their first block of games on a high in Cardiff, with head coach Murphy having declared that winning three of the six – which they have already done – would be a “pass”, but adding a fourth would make it “satisfactory”.
Ulster: (15-9) E McIlroy; W Kok, J Postlethwaite, S McCloskey, M Lowry; A Morgan, N Doak; (1-8) E O’Sullivan, J McCormick, T O’Toole; I Henderson (captain), K Treadwell; C Izuchuwku, N Timoney, D McCann.
Substitutes: J Andrew, A Warwick, S Wilson, H Sheridan, Marcus Rea, J Cooney, B Carson, B Moxham.