Mark Anscombe has handed competitive debuts to Sean Doyle, Nick Williams, Rob Herring and Michael Heaney for Friday RaboDirect PRO12 encounter against Glasgow at Ravenhill, kick-off 7.05pm.
Doyle and Williams will be joined in the back row by Robbie Diack, while Johann Muller continues as skipper at number four alongside Lewis Stevenson.
Behind the scrum, Heaney will start at scrum half where he is partnered by former Methodist College schoolmate Paddy Jackson at half back.
Ulster XV & replacements V Glasgow in RaboDirect PRO12:
15-9 J Payne; M Allen, C Farrell, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, M Heaney;
1-8 C Black, R Herring, J Afoa, J Muller (c), L Stevenson, R Diack, S Doyle, N Williams
Replacements: (16-23): N Brady, T Court, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, M McComish, P Marshall, N O’Connor, D Cave
The eight replacements, have over 500 caps between them. Included on the bench are Ireland squad members Tom Court, Declan Fitzpatrick, Paul Marshall and Darren Cave.
Nigel Brady, Neil McComb and Mike McComish are the other forward replacements. If Niall O’Connor comes off the bench it will be the flyhalf’s first appearance for Ulster in 20 months after returning from a spell with Connacht.
Mark Anscombe, taking charge of his first competitive game with Ulster, is expecting a tough challenge from the travelling Scots. “They have named a strong side as we expected and they will provide a formidable test. They have brought a few Internationals into the starting lineup and have another couple on the bench.
“We have a strong bench too but we will see how the game pans out. Our Internationals on the bench haven’t played much rugby or had much contact but if we need to use them we will. I’m really excited about this game, hopefully we can start the season off with a good win,” concluded Anscombe.
