JORDI MURPHY HAS been named to make his first appearance for Ulster in their Guinness Pro14 clash with Edinburgh on Friday night at Kingspan Stadium [KO 7.35pm, eir Sport/Premier Sport].
The former Leinster player is among four new faces in the team, including Rob Herring who will captain the side from hooker as he lines out for the first time this season.
Both Herring and Murphy sat out last weekend’s win over Scarlets as part of the IRFU’s player management programme.
Ross Kane and Kieran Treadwell are the other new additions, while Andrew Warwick and Iain Henderson are retained alongside them in the front five.
Marcell Coetzee and Nick Timoney will join former Murphy in the back-row.
Meanwhile, the backline remains unchanged with John Cooney and Billy Burns occupying the half-back positions.
Stuart McCloskey will partner Darren Cave in midfield while Craig Gilroy, Henry Speight and Will Addison make-up the back three.
26-year-old Murphy made the switch to Ulster during the summer which brought an end to his seven-year spell with Leinster, and he will be welcomed addition to Ulster’s pack.
He featured in all three of Ireland’s summer Tests against Australia, while Herring started the first and came off the bench in Melbourne and Sydney to win his fifth and sixth international caps.
Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has made three changes to his team for the tie.
Wing Duhan van der Merwe is replaced by Tom Brown due to injury while WP Nel is named to start at tighthead.
Hamish Watson – who misses the match due to the expected birth of his child – is replaced in the back-row by Jamie Ritchie.
Ulster
15. Will Addison
14. Craig Gilroy
13. Darren Cave
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Henry Speight
10. Billy Burns
9. John Cooney
1. Andrew Warwick
2. Rob Herring (captain)
3. Ross Kane
4. Kieran Treadwell
5. Iain Henderson
6. Marcell Coetzee
7. Jordi Murphy
8. Nick Timoney
Replacements
16. Adam McBurney
17. Eric O’Sullivan
18. Wiehahn Herbst
19. Alan O’Connor
20. Sean Reidy
21. Dave Shanahan
22. Angus Curtis
23. Angus Kernohan
Edinburgh
15. Blair Kinghorn
14. Dougie Fife
13. Mark Bennett
12. Matt Scott
11. Tom Brown
10. Simon Hickey
9. Henry Pyrgos
1. Pierre Schoeman
2. Stuart McInally (captain)
3. WP Nel
4. Ben Toolis
5. Grant Gilchrist
6. Luke Hamilton
7. Jamie Ritchie
8. Bill Mata
Replacements
16. Ross Ford
17. Allan Dell
18. Murray McCallum
19. Fraser McKenzie
20. Luke Crosbie
21. Sean Kennedy
22. Jaco van der Walt
23. James Johnstone
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