Ulster will seek to finish their season on a high when they travel to Edinburgh on Friday evening (7.35pm, live on Premier Sports).

Last week's 38-20 defeat at Munster ended any hoe they had of reaching the top eight, meaning they will not advance to the playoffs and for the first time next season, will not be involved in the Champions Cup, meaning they have to content themselves with a place in the secondary Challenge Cup.

While this is a dead rubber for Ulster, it is not the case for their hosts as Edinburgh still have an opportunity to break into the top eight as they currently sit two points behind.
Ulster find themselves in this position following a season of absentees and missed opportunities.

Sure, they had a nightmare on the injury front, but on too many occasions in games, they did it to themselves, twice blowing 19-0 leads against Cardiff and the Sharks, while they also were stunned at home by a struggling Zebre.

There have been some good performances in the campaign, but not enough of them and in a season where rebuilding was the central theme, it is clear there is a lot more work to do.

Already, they have confirmed the signings of Sam Crean and Rory McGuire for next season with Crean penning a permanent deal after appearing as short-term cover earlier in the season, while his fellow prop, McGuire signs from the Leinster Academy. 

John Cooney, Kieran Treadwell, John Andrew, Alan O’Connor and Matty Rea are all set to depart, meaning more signings are expected and others promoted from the academy as head coach Richie Murphy continues his rebuild.

"We are backing the youth," Murphy told RTE.

"We know there is probably a little bit of pain at the moment but we are willing to keep pushing through because we can see the potential in those players, and I think you guys will have seen that potential too.

"You can't put 20/21/22/23-year-olds out there and expect them to hit the ground running when they are playing against some serious high-level international players.

"There's going to be an area of growth. I suppose from our point of view, it's been a very broken year in relation to the team that we have been able to put out, especially the first part of the year where we were chopping and changing four, five, six, seven players week-in, week-out, but the last couple of weeks we have had a closer run at things.

"Ultimately, over the course of the season, our league position doesn't lie. We haven't quite been good enough."

Two of those departing after Friday's game, Andrew Warwick and Kieran Treadwell,  are named to start with Warwick selected at loosehead prop and Treadwell partnering Iain Henderson in the second row, whilst Werner Kok is one change to the back three.