Injury and the IRFU’s ongoing player management programme means that Brian McLaughlin has named an Ulster team to take on Edinburgh at Murrayfield tomorrow evening with a starting line-up that shows a mix of positional and personnel changes from that which was defeated by Biarritz in the Heineken Cup last Sunday.
Amongst the backs, only Ruan Pienaar retains the same position he played last week at scrum-half. With Simon Danielli unavailable due to injury, David McIlwaine moves from fullback to left wing and Adam D’Arcy is promoted from the bench to cover the No 15 jersey. Mark McCrea makes his first competitive start as Andrew Trimble moves from the right wing to outside centre and Ian Whitten takes the inside centre position with Paddy Wallace moving to out-half.
Up front Paddy McAllister starts in the front row with Tom Court moving to the bench and Dan Tuohy partners Johann Muller in the second row this week. The rotation of the backrow players continues – Chris Henry starts this week ahead of Pedrie Wannenburg but in the openside position with Stephen Ferris moving to the blindside flank. Robbie Diack retains his place at No.8.
ULSTER: (15-9) Adam D’Arcy: Mark McCrea, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, David McIlwaine; Paddy Wallace, Ruan Pienaar (1-8) Paddy McAllister, Rory Best (Captain), BJ Botha, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Robbie Diack
Replacements: Andi Kyriacou, Tom Court, Bryan Young, Ryan Caldwell, Pedrie Wannenburg, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Nevin Spence
