Big guns back for Ulster ahead of Connacht clash

Adam Kyriacou

Ulster and Connacht will be determined to bounce back from recent PRO14 losses when they clash with each other at Kingspan Stadium on Friday.

Hooker Rob Herring will lead out Ulster and he will be joined in the front-row by Marty Moore and the returning Jack McGrath.

Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell are paired together in the engine room, with Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy and Marcell Coetzee selected as the loose forward trio.

Will Addison returns from suspension to start at full-back and he is joined in the back three by Robert Baloucoune and Louis Ludik. The familiar pairings of Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall, and John Cooney and Billy Burns are named as the midfield and half-back pairings respectively.

On the bench, Adam McBurney, Kyle McCall, Tom O’Toole, David O’Connor and Nick Timoney provide the forwards reinforcements, with David Shanahan, Bill Johnston and Craig Gilroy covering the backline.

Meanwhile, Connacht scrum-half Caolin Blade is set to captain the side on Friday.

Blade has been a central figure for Connacht of late having taken part in all of the province’s 12 games of the current campaign. The 25-year-old will continue his half-back partnership with Conor Fitzgerald for the trip to Belfast.

Elsewhere in the backline, Peter Robb has returned from injury to partner Tom Daly in midfield while Tiernan O’Halloran starts at full-back in a back three that includes John Porch and Matt Healy on the wings.

Up front, Paddy McAllister is another to return from injury in time for the interpro clash. The loosehead prop joins a front-row with hooker Dave Heffernan and Finlay Bealham at tighthead.

With Quinn Roux picking up a hand injury against Munster that will likely keep him out of action until the end of January, Andy Friend has been forced to make a change to his second-row. Ultan Dillane will line up with Joe Maksymiw who came off the bench last weekend with 20-year-old Niall Murray named among the replacements.

In the back-row, Robin Copeland comes into the starting team at number eight. He will be flanked by Eoin McKeon and Paul Boyle at blindside and openside respectively.

The teams:

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Adam McBurney, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 David O’Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Craig Gilroy

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Daly, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Caolin Blade (c), 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Paul Boyle, 6 Eoin McKeon, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Paddy McAllister
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dominic Robertson McCoy, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Stephen Kerins, 22 Kyle Godwin, 23 Stephen Fitzgerald

Venue: Kingspan Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Nigel Correll (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)