Iain Henderson has given Joe Schmidt a welcome Six Nations boost, with the towering second row set to start for UIster against the Ospreys in the Pro14 tomorrow night having returned from injury ahead of schedule.
Henderson had surgery on his thumb before Christmas and his rotten luck continued when he suffered a fresh setback during the Heineken Champions Cup victory at Leicester Tigers last month.
With Tadgh Beirne [knee] also out, and Devin Toner [ankle] sidelined for two months, Henderson could come back into the fold for the Italy clash in Rome on Sunday week.
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Meanwhile, Stuart McCloskey will make his 100th appearance for the province at Morganstone Brewery Field.
The 26-year-old centre made his debut against Dragons back in February 2014 and has been a regular in the side since then.
Henderson will partner captain Alan O’Connor in the second row. Academy prop Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring and Marty Moore complete the tight five.
Clive Ross, starting for the first time this season, is joined in the back row by Nick Timoney and Jordi Murphy, who has been released by the Ireland coaching team.
Scrum-half John Cooney is another to be discharged from international duty and he will partner Michel Lowry at half back. It will be Lowry’s first start in the fly-half berth.
McCloskey will combine with Darren Cave in midfield, while Angus Kernohan, Louis Ludik and Peter Nelson are named in the back three.
Ulster: P Nelson; A Kernohan, D Cave, S McCloskey, L Ludik; M Lowry, J Cooney; E O’Sullivan, R Herring, M Moore, A O’Connor (capt), I Henderson, C Ross, J Murphy, N Timoney
Replacements: J Andrew, A Warwick, T O'Toole, K Treadwell, S Reidy, D Shanahan, J Hume, R Lyttle.
Chris Farrell starts for Munster in their meeting with Southern Kings at Irish Independent Park, less than a week after helping Ireland to victory at Murrayfield.
Johann van Graan makes seven changes to the side that defeated Dragons in the province's last outing three weeks ago.
Andrew Conway, Farrell, Niall Scannell, John Ryan and Billy Holland all return from international duty to start. Tyler Bleyendaal captains the side in his first start at out-half this season.
Mike Haley lines up at full-back with Conway and Darren Sweetnam named on the flanks. Rory Scannell and Farrell are the centres with Neil Cronin and Bleyendaal named in the half-backs.
Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell and Ryan pack down in the front row with Jean Kleyn and Holland in the engine room.
Fineen Wycherley, Chris Cloete and Arno Botha start in the back row to complete the side. Cloete makes his first appearance since sustaining a neck injury in December.
JJ Hanrahan has recovered from a hip injury sustained last month to take his place in the squad with Academy back-row forward Gavin Coombes also named among the replacements.
Munster: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell, Darren Sweetnam; Tyler Bleyendaal (C), Neil Cronin; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland; Fineen Wycherley, Chris Cloete, Arno Botha.
Replacements: Rhys Marshall, Liam O’Connor, Stephen Archer, Darren O’Shea, Gavin Coombes, Alby Mathewson, JJ Hanrahan, Dan Goggin.
