Ulster Looking Forward To ‘Getting Stu Back Out There’
Richie Murphy's Ulster side are currently fourth in the BKT URC table, despite having played a game less than the teams around them ©INPHO/Nick Elliott
Ulster have welcomed Ireland international Stuart McCloskey, Jude Postlethwaite, and long-term absentee Ethan McIlroy back to full training ahead of Friday’s BKT United Rugby Championship derby against Leinster. Tickets are available to buy here.
McCloskey has not played since suffering a groin injury during Ireland’s Quilter Nations Series win over Australia last month, missing Ulster’s opening two EPCR Challenge Cup matches as a result.
Due to concussion, fellow centre Postlethwaite, a try scorer for the Ireland XV against Spain recently, was also sidelined for the province’s frustrating 29-26 defeat in Cardiff last Saturday.
Meanwhile, McIlroy is closing in on his seasonal debut for Richie Murphy’s men. The 25-year-old back-three specialist has not played since tearing his ACL in an Investec Champions Cup pool match against Leicester Tigers last month.
The availability of the back-line trio gives Ulster a timely boost heading into their run of festive fixtures, which begins with a trip to the Aviva Stadium to face defending URC champions Leinster on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
It is a crunch clash for both provinces. Ulster have won four of their opening five URC matches to sit fourth in the table, but have won just twice on the road in 2025, both in the URC, at the Dragons in March and away to the Sharks in October.
“It’s definitely right up there (as one of the hardest places to go), Leinster are the current champions,” said Murphy. “I think people are being a little bit disrespectful, saying that they’re not playing particularly well, but they are winning.
“They’re a massively physical team, I think they’ve changed. They’ve gone away from their DNA of being the sort of open, free-flowing rugby to playing a pressure, squeeze you and run over the top of you type of team, so, physically, you have to be right on it.
“I suppose Munster’s blueprint of how they stopped the Leinster momentum is something that people can learn from, but it takes a lot to be able to stop that juggernaut when it gets going.
“They are beatable, but they lost two games in South Africa when their team wasn’t there and a Munster game when their team was just coming back together for the first run out. But I still think they’re doing more than enough to win the games that are in front of them.
“It’s a massive challenge for us, our ability to play against that defence and get ourselves on the front foot is going to be huge and our ability to deal with the contact area, both in attack and defence, is going to be big.”
Ulster have lost their last three encounters with Leinster, since winning 23-21 at home in May of last year. A winning performance on Friday would be huge in a historical context, as Ulster’s only victory in their last ten visits to the Aviva Stadium was in their European semi-final against Edinburgh back in 2012.
Callum Reid, who was ruled out of the Cardiff game due to illness, is expected to be available for selection this week. Fellow prop Rory McGuire is undergoing an MRI scan on the ankle injury he sustained against the Welsh outfit.
McGuire, who played eight times for Leinster before making the move to Belfast, joins an Ulster injury list that includes captain Iain Henderson (back), Ben Moxham (knee), Eric O’Sullivan (hamstring), Matthew Dalton (knee), Rob Herring (knee), James McNabney (knee), and Michael Lowry (ankle).
Head coach Murphy added: “Stu is back fully fit, he trained all last week. He is in a good frame of mind and a rich vein of form as well, so we’re looking forward to getting him back out there.
“I think one of the things that we’ve been good at this year is bringing some of our backs into the game. We have a big physical back-line who are very quick and who cause any team trouble.
“You know, that battle between him and whoever plays centre against him – that could be Robbie Henshaw, Rieko Ioane, or Garry Ringrose – is exciting, and there are loads of match-ups that are going to be exciting. It’s a really big opportunity for lots of players to put their hand up.”