Rugby:Irish internationals Stephen Ferris and Rory Best feature in Brian McLaughlin's Ulster squad for the first time ahead of Thursday's third and final pre-season game against Leeds at Ravenhill (kick-off 7.30pm).
As Ferris and Best both missed Ireland’s summer tour through injury and therefore started their pre-season preparations earlier than their international team mates, the IRFU are content for the influential pair to get some game time. Under IRFU regulations they are each permitted to play up to 40 minutes in Thursday’s game.
Prop Paddy McAllister was also named in the squad, despite suffering injuries to his neck and back following a heavy collision in the first friendly against Bath. He will be subject to a medical fitness test later this week but has made good progress.
Adam D'Arcy is also included – he is currently on trial with Ulster from the Manly Rugby League team in Australia. The 23-year-old plays at fullback and linked up with the province last week.
"We have one full contract left to fill for the 2010-11 season and we're looking at Adam (D’Arcy) as a potential player for that place," said David Humphreys , Ulster Rugby operations director. "Should he get some game time on Thursday it will be a huge opportunity for him to show us what he can potentially do for Ulster."
McLaughlin is hoping to use the final warm-up match to get an idea of his starting XV to take on the Ospreys in their opening Magners League match.
"The team we put out against Leeds is fairly close to who we are aiming to select for the home Magners League opener against The Ospreys at Ravenhill in just over a week's time," said McLaughlin.
"We were very disappointed with the result against Harlequins last weekend but we were happy with areas of the overall performance, particularly our defence and how our younger players performed which is important for progression.
"Against Leeds we are looking for both a winning result and a good performance to take us into the Ospreys match in the Magners League."
McLaughlin has found the pre-season run frustrating as he’s had to work without some of the senior players while experimenting with some of the younger panel members.
"It's been a mixed pre-season period to date, frustrating because we've not had all our players available but at the same time that means we've had the opportunity to play some of the younger guys and we've been really impressed by how they've handled themselves," added the coach.
"Leeds are a Premiership side who will provide us with some really good quality opposition ahead of our first competitive game in the League. We need to hold onto the ball, which we found difficult against Quins last weekend, and have confidence in our game."
Ulster squad (v Leeds)
Forwards:B Young; R Best, D Fitzpatrick; N Brady; P McAllister, A Macklin, J Muller, T Barker, R Caldwell, S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg, R Diack, TJ Anderson
Backs:I Porter, M Heaney, N O'Connor, I Humphreys, J Shiels, D Cave, I Whitten, C Gilroy, T Seymour, D McIlwaine, A D'Arcy