ULSTER WILL BE without Rory Best and Stephen Ferris for tomorrow evening’s RaboDirect Pro12 clash with the Glasgow Warriors at Firhill.
The two international stars have been given a rest weekend in line with the IRFU’s player management policy, forcing coach Brian McLaughlin to shuffle his pack as the province look to get back to winning ways.
McLaughlin has made four changes in total to the side which lost 20-9 against Leicester in the Heineken Cup last week.
Andi Kyriacou and Robbie Diack swap straight in for Best and Ferris while Willie Faloon also comes into the back row in place of Chris Henry, who has featured in all 10 of the provinces’ games so far this season.
In the backs, Craig Gilroy – another ever-present — is also rested. Simon Danelli shuffles across to the wing in his place with Adam D’Arcy slotting in at full-back.
Glasgow go into tomorrow night’s game on the back of three successive wins at Firhill and, speaking yesterday, McLaughlin targeted the breakdown battles as key if Ulster are to reverse that trend.
“Whenever you’re playing a Scottish side you’ve got to make your breakdown as accurate and as positive as possible,” McLaughlin said.
“They’ll be all over you like a rash so we’ve got to make sure that we’re clinical in there and that we’re producing the ball.
The other thing is that with Scottish sides buzzing about all over the place, you’ve got to make sure you keep their forwards all in one place as much as possible.We’ve talked about varying little things, varying our lineouts and what we’re doing off them. Hopefully that will help us as the game progresses.
Ulster (vs Glasgow): D’Arcy; Trimble, Cave, Spence, Danielli; Humphreys, Marshall; Court, Kyriacou, Fitzpatrick; Muller, Tuohy; Diack, Faloon, Wannenburg. Replacements: Brady, McAllister, Macklin, Barker, McComish, Porter, Jackson, Whitten.
