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Prodigal Son

T Bowe time: Tommy to make his Ulster return against Cardiff

Blues coach Phil Davies hopes to honour Nevin Spence’s memory with a great game as Ulster make their return to rugby following the young centre’s tragic death.

Updated 22.45

TOMMY BOWE WILL make his long-awaited return to Ulster colours in an emotionally charged Cardiff Arms Park on Friday evening.

Unbeaten Ulster travel to the Cardiff Blues in the province’s first RaboDirect Pro12 match since the tragic death of centre Nevin Spence alongside his father and brother earlier this month.

Bowe resumes where he left off when he departed for the Ospreys in 2008 and will win his 92nd cap in his familiar spot on the right wing, one of five personnel changes to the side which beat Munster by a point a fortnight ago.

Fellow Irish internationals Chris Henry and Dan Tuohy also make their first appearances of the new season but there is no place for Stephen Ferris, who is rested again by coach Mark Anscombe.

Iain Henderson takes his place in the back row while a knock to captain Johann Muller sees Neil McComb called in to deputise at lock. Paddy Wallace has recovered following surgery on a shoulder injury and is named among the replacements.

For Cardiff, Welsh international Bradley Davies will make his 100th appearance on Friday night.

With Spence’s death striking an unavoidably emotional tone in the build-up to the game, coach Phil Davies promised that his players would let their performance pay tribute to the young star’s memory.

“Friday I think will be our sternest test against the Heineken Cup finalists. It’s going to be Ulster’s first game back since the tragic news they received a fortnight ago about Nevin Spence,” Davies said.

“We are paying due respect to the situation Ulster are in and how they feel by matching that emotion and that level of performance. Hopefully we will have a great game as a tribute to a great rugby player and a great Ulsterman.”

Ulster: J Payne; T Bowe, M Allen, D Cave, A Trimble; P Jackson, P Marshall; T Court, N Brady, J Afoa; N McComb, D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry (c), N Williams. Replacements: R Herring, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson , M McComish, M Heaney, P Wallace, C Gilroy.
Cardiff Blues: D Fish; H Robinson, D Hewitt, J Roberts, T James; J Tovey, L Williams; N Trevett, A Kyriacou, T Filise; B Davies, J Down; R Copeland, S Warburton (c), A Pretorius. Replacements: R Williams, C Ma’afu, S Andrews, L Reed, R Watts-Jones, R Lewis, G Davies, Tom Williams.

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