Ulster representatives have been hard to come by in Ireland teams in recent years.
It's just over three months since Andy Farrell’s side took on South Africa at Aviva Stadium with nobody from the northern province in their matchday 23.
It’s also happened in each of the last two Six Nations. Against Scotland in 2024 and Wales last year, Leinster, Connacht and Munster made up the full matchday squad.
The province’s struggles were also reflected on the British and Irish Lions tour, not an Ulsterman to be found among the 48 players who either made the initial squad, or were later called in.
Fast forward to this week, and one-third of the Irish starting team to face Wales are sourced from Ravenhill, while debutant Nathan Doak and Tom Stewart make seven from the province in the matchday 23.
For those wondering, the last time they contributed as many players to an Ireland international was the summer Test against the USA in 2021.
With Leinster dominating Irish teams for the last decade, Andy Farrell (below) has always stressed how he doesn't keep a tally on the provincial breakdown of his squads.
But when that number was put to him after he named his squad to face Wales tomorrow night, he acknowledged it’s been a remarkable turnaround for the province’s players.
"I didn't know that. It's brilliant, isn't it?" he replied.
Five of those players are named in the starting team; Stuart McCloskey and Rob Baloucoune keep their places in the first XV after impressing earlier in this championship, while Nick Timoney and Tom O’Toole are rewarded for their good form off the bench in previous rounds.
Jacob Stockdale is also recalled on the left wing, replacing the injured James Lowe.
The 29-year-old started the opening round defeat to France in Paris before dropping out for the next two games, and Farrell believes the 41-cap winger deserves another opportunity to shine.
"I suppose there's a few others that had the opportunity to be able to do that against Italy and against England. And you're right in saying that.
"I suppose he's been waiting in the wings there to try and wait for another opportunity to have a crack at it because, again, he's been showing up pretty well.
"And we've seen him growing behind the scenes. He's got an opportunity now to go and do it on Friday night. And we're looking forward to that."
The healthy Ulster representation in this week’s squad comes as no surprise, given how the side have been playing under Richie Murphy (above) this season.
While they suffered defeat at the hands of the Ospreys last weekend, the province have performed above expectation this season, while their style of attack under Mark Sexton appears to be a good fit to how Farrell’s Ireland operate.
"It’s a fantastic news story, yeah," the head coach added.
"It just goes to show that if teams are going well and playing good rugby then they will get selected.
"We have always said that selection is not really up to us, it is up to the players to show that they are worthy of the spot, the right to get in the room and then show us what they’ve got.
"It’s thoroughly deserved, all those lads who get to put the shirt on Friday night.
"The confidence that they've shown within the group to warrant a starting place or a debut or a substitute spot or whatever, shows that they're keen to grow at this level as well. And we've seen that over the last five weeks."
One of those who gets a rare opportunity to start is Nick Timoney (below), with the flanker drafted in to replace Josh van der Flier in the seven shirt.
The 30-year-old made his Ireland debut in that previous 2021 win against the USA where he was one of seven Ulster representatives, but has found opportunities hard to come by since.
His Six Nations debut came off the bench in Ireland’s defeat to France where he scored a try, and he’s continued to impress as a replacement in the following two games, which has led to his first championship start tomorrow.
"I could talk for a good while about Nick," the Ireland coach said.
"His biggest work-on from then [2021] to where he is now has always been about consistency of performance, because we've seen time and time again over that period what he can do.
"He's some athlete. He's quick, he's unbelievably strong, very good over the ball, got an eye for hitting a good line and line break.
"It's just consistency of performance. I think his contact work has come on massively over the last four or five months, certainly this season that's improved out of sight.
"This isn't just giving him a chance to see what he can do, he's earned the right to start, and everyone in the squad knows that."
Doak (above) replaces Craig Casey on the bench, with the 24-year-old making his debut, becoming the 32nd player used by Farrell across the last four games.
And while his team shows five changes from the side that defeated England 42-21 last time out, the coach insists rotation for the sake of rotation is not something in his coaching manual.
"Nobody gets capped just for the sake of it, they've got to earn it.
"That's why I don't like the word rotation, it's not. You've got to earn it. You don't just get a freebie at rotating just because that's what we think needs to happen.
"We do those type of things because people have earned the right to do that, and at the same time, we're hoping that they're able to deal with the occasion and the big game that it is for some of them coming in who are new to this type of level, that they're able to flourish and therefore able to carry on competing."
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