Stuart Olding, Peter Nelson and big South African signing Marcell Coetzee are all back from injury as Ulster look to light up Kingspan Stadium with a much-improved performance and most importantly a win over Edinburgh.
GUINNESS PRO12: Friday, February 10
ULSTER (6th) v EDINBURGH (9th), Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland/BBC ALBA)
Team News: Ulster’s director of rugby Les Kiss has named a strong side for tonight’s GUINNESS PRO12 showdown with Edinburgh at Kingspan Stadium.
Marcell Coetzee, who joined the province in the summer, will make his highly-anticipated debut after recovering from a knee injury sustained last April.
The South African, capped 28 times at international level, will start at number 8 in the crucial PRO12 round 14 match.
Peter Nelson, who sustained a significant mid-foot injury against the Scottish outfit back in December 2015, will make his first Ulster appearance in 15 months after being named to start at out-half.
Stuart Olding is another player making his return from injury, having not featured since the Exeter Chiefs fixture in October. He will link up with Darren Cave in midfield.
Nelson will be partnered by Paul Marshall at half back, with Charles Piutau, Jacob Stockdale and Louis Ludik making up the hosts’ back-three.
Up front, John Andrew (pictured below) will make just his third senior start after being selected at hooker where he will be joined in an all-Ballymena front row by Andrew Warwick and Ricky Lutton.
Kieran Treadwell and Alan O’Connor are paired together in the second row, with Ireland internationals Robbie Diack and Chris Henry joining Coetzee in the back row.
The versatile Sean Reidy – named among the replacements – is in line to make his 50th appearance for the province, while hooker Jonny Murphy will earn a second cap if called upon by Kiss.
Wiehahn Herbst has also recovered from a calf injury and will provide additional forward cover from the bench, with Callum Black and Peter Browne also included.
Stuart McCloskey and Tommy Bowe have been released by the Ireland management and along with Dave Shanahan, they complete the matchday squad.
Over 15,000 tickets have been sold for the Ulster v Edinburgh match but there is still availability at www.ulsterrugby.com/buytickets. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased on the gate from 6.05pm tonight.
Meanwhile, acting head coach Duncan Hodge has made one personnel change to Edinburgh’s starting XV for their second successive meeting with Irish opposition.
Fijian back rower Viliame Mata is set to pack down on the blindside flank in his first PRO12 start since the Scots’ 28-17 victory over the Ulstermen in November.
Blair Kinghorn and Damien Hoyland will make their 13th consecutive starts for Edinburgh, with left winger Tom Brown joining them in the back-three. Chris Dean and Phil Burleigh continue as the centre combination, while Sean Kennedy and Jason Tovey are named as the half-backs.
Neil Cochrane continues as hooker and captain, with Jack Cosgrove and Murray McCallum taking up the loosehead and tighthead prop berths respectively.
Ben Toolis continues at lock alongside Fraser McKenzie, who was recently voted as SCRUM Player of the Month for January. Magnus Bradbury moves from blindside to number 8 to accommodate Mata, and openside John Hardie completes the back row trio.
ULSTER: Louis Ludik; Jacob Stockdale, Darren Cave, Stuart Olding, Charles Piutau; Peter Nelson, Paul Marshall; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Ricky Lutton, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry (capt), Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Callum Black, Wiehahn Herbst, Peter Browne, Sean Reidy, David Shanahan, Stuart McCloskey, Tommy Bowe.
EDINBURGH: Blair Kinghorn; Damien Hoyland, Chris Dean, Phil Burleigh, Tom Brown; Jason Tovey, Sean Kennedy; Jack Cosgrove, Neil Cochrane (capt), Murray McCallum, Fraser McKenzie, Ben Toolis, Viliame Mata, John Hardie, Magnus Bradbury.
Replacements: Stuart McInally, Derrick Appiah, Nick Beavon, Lewis Carmichael, Viliami Fihaki, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Michael Allen, Rory Scholes.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Dermot Thomas (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Paul Adams (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ulster to win: 1/6; Draw: 20/1; Edinburgh to win: 7/2
Pre-Match Quotes: John Andrew (Ulster) – “We do a lot of analysis on every team but we know that Edinburgh are a big and physical pack. We’ve been working on our ourselves and we know if we perform to at our best we can give them a real go in the scrums.
“Last week we got a good amount of work done and did more contact than would probably be the case in an ordinary match week and that, along with the break, seems to have freshened the boys up.
“I think in those (recent) games there have been patches where we’ve played okay and then there has been patches where we’ve been very ordinary or worse. In this block of games, during the Six Nations, we’re just trying to get a bit of momentum back.
“We know that when we get things right, we can give teams a bit of a headache so we just need to go out and perform and get the basics right and get the win.”
Duncan Hodge (Edinburgh) – “We’ve named a settled side to head to Belfast, for what will be a tough encounter against a strong Ulster outfit.
“As a squad, we were frustrated with last week’s result against Munster, and know the last 20 minutes of the game let us down. The aim is to make amends and perform positively and consistently for the whole 80 minutes this week.
“Ulster is always a great fixture and we look forward to going over there and showing our intent from the first whistle.”
Top Scorers – 2016/17 GUINNESS PRO12: Ulster – Points: Paddy Jackson 65; Tries: Robert Lyttle, Charles Piutau, Jacob Stockdale 3 each; Edinburgh – Points: Duncan Weir 69; Tries: Magnus Bradbury 4
2016/17 TEAM FORM: Ulster – Played 12, Won 7, Lost 5, 33 Points; W 29-8 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), W 22-11 v Benetton Treviso (away), W 19-8 v Scarlets (home), W 22-17 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 9-7 v Ospreys (home), L 30-25 v Connacht (away), L 15-14 v Munster (home), L 28-17 v Edinburgh (away), W 35-22 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 23-7 v Connacht (home), L 22-7 v Leinster (away), L 16-13 v Scarlets (away); Edinburgh – Played 13, Won 4, Lost 9, 19 Points; L 34-16 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 20-9 v Scarlets (home), L 33-20 v Leinster (home), L 28-14 v Munster (away), L 28-15 v Connacht (away), W 45-10 v Benetton Treviso (home), L 19-14 v Zebre (home), W 28-17 v Ulster (home), L 27-19 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), L 31-22 v Ospreys (away), L 25-12 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 24-19 v Zebre (away), L 10-9 v Munster (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, March 21, 2014 – Edinburgh 3 Ulster 9, Murrayfield
Friday, October 3, 2014 – Ulster 30 Edinburgh 0, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, February 20, 2015 – Edinburgh 17 Ulster 20, BT Murrayfield
Friday, October 16, 2015 – Edinburgh 16 Ulster 10, BT Murrayfield
Friday, December 4, 2015 – Ulster 14 Edinburgh 7, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, November 4, 2016 – Edinburgh 28 Ulster 17, BT Murrayfield
MATCH FACTS:
– Ulster’s only victory in their last six matches in all tournaments was 23-7 at home to Connacht in the GUINNESS PRO12 on December 23
– Ulster have lost just once at Kingspan Stadium in the PRO12 since last February, and that was by a single point to Munster in round 7 this season
– Edinburgh’s single point defeat at home to Munster last Friday ended a three-match winning run in all competitions
– The Scotsmen won their most recent away game in the PRO12 at Zebre on New Year’s Eve, to end a run of seven straight defeats on the road in the competition
– Edinburgh beat Ulster 28-17 at BT Murrayfield in round 8 of the PRO12 and have only once before achieved a season’s double over the province (in 2007/08)
– Edinburgh’s most recent victory in Belfast was 16-13 in the PRO12 in September 2009
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