Rugby:Brian McLaughlin has made a number of changes to his pack after the Ravenhill draw against the Dragons and ahead of the match against Scarlets, as he anticipates another tough encounter at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow night (7.05pm).
Tom Court returns to the frontrow instead of Bryan Young and will partner hooker Nigel Brady and BJ Botha.
Botha started against the Dragons but Brady replaces Ireland's Rory Best, who remains in training with the international squad.
Dan Tuohy moves to the backrow to accommodate the return of Ryan Caldwell in the secondrow. The latter will partner Ed O’Donoghue, while the backrow is completed by David Pollock and captain Chris Henry.
Timoci Nagusa returns to the right wing with Andrew Trimble switching to the left flank, while Paddy Wallace, who travelled to Twickenham with Ireland as back-up, retains his place at inside centre beside Darren Cave.
Scotland wing Simon Danielli is named on the bench.
"We are playing at the Parc y Scarlets, we were there a couple of weeks ago with the Ravens, so we know what to expect,” said McLaughlin.
“It is going to be a hard match; they will make us fight for every blade of grass. We have got to play out of our socks and be mentally prepared, if we are going to come away with the win, which we really need.”
A win would allow Ulster to pull away from seventh-placed Dragons and close the gap on Edinburgh ahead of their respective games against Munster (Saturday) and Ospreys (Sunday).
Celtic Rugby also confirmed today that Ulster’s game against Ospreys, which was postponed from Friday, January 8th, will now be played on Friday, March 19th at Ravenhill (6.10pm).
Tickets originally purchased for the postponed fixture are valid for the rescheduled game.
Ulster: Jamie Smith, Timoci Nagusa, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Andrew Trimble, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss; Tom Court, Nigel Brady, Brendan Botha, Ed O'Donoghue, Ryan Caldwell, Dan Tuohy, David Pollock, Chris Henry (capt) Replacements: Andi Kyriacou, Bryan Young, Robbie Diack, Willie Faloon, Paul Marshall, Niall O'Connor, Simon Danielli