Jackman to start as O’Sullivan misses out through injury

Mick Carroll comes in at no. 8 for the injured John O’Sullivan as Bernard Jackman makes his Connacht return, having been released early by national management.

Connacht have made two changes to last week’s side for Saturday’s Celtic League clash with Ulster at the Sportsground (Kick off 2:30pm).

Mick Carroll comes in at number 8 for the injured John O’Sullivan and Bernard Jackman returns from international duty at hooker in place of John Fogarty.

On the bench Dan McFarland returns from injury to take his place, while second -row Pieter Myburgh will be in line to make his competitive debut.

Darren Yapp, Mark McHugh, James Downey and John O’Sullivan were all not considered due to injury.

After last week’s thrilling encounter at Musgrave Park there is a lot of interest ahead of Saturday’s big game as Connacht look to hold on to second place in the table and possibly make a push for the top spot.

The recent history of this fixture suggests a tight encounter. While Ulster had a fairly comfortable 42-27 victory last year at Ravenhill, the previous season Connacht earned a 31-20 victory at the Sportsground, whereas in 2002, Ulster sneaked a tight win by just a single point, 18-17.

Both sides have much to aim for. With Connacht riding high in second place, they will be seeking a win to confirm their challenge; while Ulster will be looking to quickly banish the memory of their unbeaten Ravenhill record being surrendered last week to Leinster.

Connacht: 15. David Slemen; 14. Ted Robinson, 13. Matt Mostyn, 12. Niall O’Brien, 11. Conor McPhillips; 10. Paul Warwick, 9. Tom Tierney; 1. Adrian Clarke, 2. Bernard Jackman, 3. Peter Bracken, 4. Christian Short, 5. Andrew Farley, 6. John Muldoon, 7. Matt Lacey, 8. Michael Carroll.

Replacements: 16.John Fogarty, 17. Stephen Knoop, 18. Dan McFarland, 19. Pieter Myburgh, 20. Paul Neville, 21. Conor O’Loughlin 22. Eric Elwood.