WITH a break for the Six Nations coming up, Ulster will seek to sign off for this part of the season on the right note when they take on Zebre Parma at Kingspan Stadium on Sunday (5.30pm, live on BBC).

Fresh from their Champions Cup exploits, where they ultimately squeezed through to the last 16, aided by an impressive 52-24 home win over Exeter Chiefs last week, spirits ought to be high as they return to URC action against the Italians, who sit second from bottom of the standings.

As it stands, Ulster sit in ninth place but maximum points could see them move into the playoff zone before two weeks of downtime until they meet Australia's Queensland Reds in a challenge game.

That will mark the beginning of the last big charge of the season and Richie Murphy's men will be keen to enter that phase in a good position.

Therefore, it's a key clash and an even bigger one for John Cooney who makes his 150th appearance and also for 22-year-old Development forward, Lorcan McLoughlin, who will make his first start. 

Ulster will be without their Irish internationals who are in camp for the aforementioned Six Nations, but Murphy has plenty of talent on show with Cooney selected at scrum-half alongside Jack Murphy at 10 to provide a fine balance.

Zac Ward returns on the left wing this week, while Tom Stewart makes his first start of the season at hooker.

The visitors may have struggled so far, but have put together some encouraging performances and in Giacomo Da Re, Giovanni Licata, Simone Gesi and the versatile Lorenzo Pani, Massimo Brunello's side has plenty of talent to cause problems.

Sunday's game also marks a historic first for Ulster Rugby, with the trial of the first ever Sunday Danske Bank Ulster Schools' Cup Round of 16 fixture being played as a curtain-raiser to the URC clash with Sullivan Upper and Banbridge Academy kicking off at 2pm.