Ulster Back In League Action
Following their loss to Gloucester in the LV= Cup semi-final, the Newport Gwent Dragons travel to Belfast on Friday night for their rearranged Magners League round 10 clash with Ulster.
The game at Ravenhill is one of two rearranged fixtures scheduled for Friday evening, the other being the meeting of Glasgow Warriors and Benetton Treviso.
Ulster have stopped the decline that saw them drop from second to sixth place in the table over the course of the season, to now sit just one position outside the play-off zone.
They will be keen to turn their game in hand into points if they are to maintain a challenge for a top-four finish.
Their opponents, the Dragons, will also be chasing the points in their quest for European qualification. They currently sit in eighth place despite being two games short of many of their opponents.
Pride is at stake in the other round 10 game, Glasgow Warriors, having made the semi-finals last season, are languishing in 11th position at present, two places behind their opponents Benetton Treviso and one below their arch rivals Edinburgh.
If they are to have any chance of finishing as the top Scottish team this season, Glasgow need a victory from this game in hand.
A win for Treviso would guarantee they finish as the top Italian side, and a mid-table finish in their first season in the Magners League would be a good return.
Theviso have already won three more games than the Warriors so far this season, but due to the original postponement this is the first time the two team have met in league action.
MAGNERS LEAGUE – RESCHEDULED ROUND 10 FIXTURES:
Friday, March 18 –
ULSTER v Newport Gwent Dragons, Ravenhill, 7.05pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland)
Glasgow Warriors v Benetton Treviso, Firhill Stadium, 7.30pm