A NEW BKT United Rugby Championship season is here and Ulster will be keen to make a good start when they host Glasgow Warriors at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday evening (7.45pm, live on Premier Sports).
The sides went through their final pre-season paces last weekend with Ulster losing out at Exeter Chiefs, while the Scottish outfit fell to defeat against Connacht, but now it is for real as the defending champions arrive in Belfast with their own ambitions to get off to a winning start.
The return of Adam Hastings from Gloucester is a major shot in the arm for Franco Smith's charges as the Scotland international is a point-scoring machine and will certainly prove to be an important acquisition, complementing the talents of Stafford McDowall, Johnny Matthews and Sione Vailanu.
Ulster are without John Cooney (hamstring), James Hume (knee), Jake Flannery (finger), Tom Stewart (ankle), Rob Herring (calf) and Robert Baloucoune (hamstring), but in better news, team captain Iain Henderson, returns from his recent surgery and starts alongside Kieran Treadwell in the second row.
The front row sees Eric O’Sullivan start at loosehead prop, John Andrew at hooker and Corrie Barrett, who signed a contract with the province this week, at tighthead prop.
Development talent, James McNabney, gets the nod at blindside flanker where he is joined by last season’s Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year, David McCann, at openside flanker. Nick Timoney starts at number eight.
After starting both pre-season friendlies against Benetton and Exeter Chiefs, scrum-half, Nathan Doak, and fly-half, Aidan Morgan, line up together as the half-back partnership to kick off the season.
Jacob Stockdale starts on the left wing, with the Ireland international hoping to continue his fine try-scoring form from last season.
After captaining the province for the first time in pre-season, Mike Lowry, starts on the right wing.
Jude Postlethwaite, who was one of six Ulstermen named in the upcoming Emerging Ireland tour, starts at inside centre and is joined by Stewart Moore at outside centre. Ethan McIlroy starts at full-back, completing the starting XV.
