Tom Court, Chris Henry, Paddy Wallace and Dan Tuohy will all be available for Ulster’s RaboDirect PRO12 trip to Cardiff this Friday.
The players will be released from the Ireland squad but fellow Internationals Stephen Ferris, Andrew Trimble and Rory Best remain unavailable for selection.
Ulster’s 31 man squad contains a mix of youth and experience, with Henry taking over the captaincy in the absence of Johann Muller through injury. The 27 year old led the side admirably when Muller and Rory Best were on World Cup duty earlier in the season.
Muller will miss a second consecutive match following the calf injury he picked up last week in training, while Ali Birch is the only fresh injury after he picked up a knee injury in Friday’s win over Dragons.
Ulster have won seven of the previous nine games in all competitions, with six of those wins producing four try bonus points. Cardiff are also showing good form, particularly at home, where they have lost just one of their last eight games.
Ulster produced one of their best recent performances in this fixture last season, with Craig Gilroy scoring two debut tries to help secure a 15-37 win. The Ulstermen then completed the double over their Welsh rivals with a 32-13 success at Ravenhill.
Provisional Ulster Squad to play Cardiff, Friday 17th February, Cardiff Arms Park (kick off 7.05pm):
Forwards:
Callum Black, Adam Macklin, John Afoa, Tom Court, Jerry Cronin, Paddy McAllister, Andi Kyriacou, Nigel Brady, Lewis Stevenson, Tim Barker, Dan Tuohy, Neil McComb, Willie Faloon, Chris Henry (captain), Mike McComish, Robbie Diack
Backs:
Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Luke Marshall, Paddy Wallace, Ian Whitten, Nevin Spence, Michael Allen, Stefan Terblanche, Craig Gilroy, Conor Gaston, Simon Danielli, Chris Cochrane, Adam D’Arcy
Unavailable due to injury:
Declan Fitzpatrick, Jared Payne, Pedrie Wannenburg, Darren Cave, Johann Muller, Ali Birch
Unavailable due to IRFU Player Management:
Stephen Ferris, Rory Best, Andrew Trimble
