Celtic League: Ulster make three changes to the team that lost last week to Munster, and Connacht bring in two new faces to the side that fell in the closing stages to Leinster for tonight's match at the Sportsground.
Ulster centre Paul Steinmetz and winger Tommy Bowe have not recovered from injuries sustained last week and are replaced by Kevin Maggs and Andrew Maxwell with Scott Young drafted on to the bench, while in the backrow Stephen Ferris starts ahead of Neil McMillan.
For Connacht Ray Ofisa comes into the side in place of Matt Lacey, making his first competitive start for the province, and Keith Matthews comes back on to the left wing in place of the injured Conor McPhillips, who has a hamstring problem.
Ulster, just four points behind Llanelli Scarlets, are hoping to bounce back with a win that would put them on top of the league table and Connacht will ask themselves to give a repeat performance of last week but keep it going for the entire match.
The flattering scoreline for Leinster (31-16) says little about Connacht's performance with firstly Shane Horgan and then Denis Hickie, with a trademark intercept, scoring tries in injury time. The sides were level at 16-16 with only 13 minutes remaining and with three players off the pitch.
After Ronnie McCormack was sinbinned following a dust-up with Mark McHugh and Malcolm O'Kelly walked for killing the ball under his own posts, Connacht were down to 14 men and Leinster 13.
With that in mind coach Michael Bradley will look to his side to compete with a little more equanimity, or, as they say, with fire in the belly and ice in the head, much like in their 22-12 win over Ulster on New Year's Eve.
He will also be aware his Connacht team have conceded 115 points in five games, more than any other in the league.
"We were disappointed with the way the game finished. We had recovered well from conceding a soft try in the opening minute," said Bradley. "We kept our composure after giving away such a soft score early on. We spoke at half-time about needing to maintain that composure for the entire second half.
"But we did that for just 30 minutes. We were level then but lost our way in the closing minutes. That was disappointing, but there were a lot of positives in the game for us and we will build on them.
"Leinster weren't causing us too many problems and I think if we kept our composure we'd have won the game. We need to keep up our level of intensity for the entire match."
But Connacht have not won in their last three league games (Scarlets, Edinburgh and Leinster) and have won just one of 15 games against Irish provinces, although, helpfully, that was against Ulster.
The champions, however, have been off their game of late with two defeats in their last three matches and away from home against the other Irish sides, Ulster have won just once since September 2004, a 20-17 victory over Munster in Cork last December.
Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen has made only one change to the starting line-up to take on the Border Reivers at Hughenden from the side that lost to Edinburgh last Friday. Scotland cap Rory Lamont starts at fullback, meaning Sean Marsden drops out of the side.
CONNACHT: D Riordan; M Mostyn, D Yapp, G Williams, K Matthews; M McHugh, C Keane; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty, R Hogan, D Gannon, A Farley, J Muldoon, R Ofisa, C Rigney. Replacements: A Flavin, B Sturgess, M Swift, M Lacey, T Tierney, P Warwick, T Robinson.
ULSTER: B Cunningham; A Maxwell, K Maggs, P Wallace, A Trimble; D Humphreys, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, B Young, J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, S Ferris, R Wilson. Replacements: P Shields, D Fitzpatrick, T Barker, K Dawson, N McMillan, K Campbell, S Young.
Referee: G Clancy (IRFU)
Verdict: Ulster win.
PREVIOUS LEAGUE MEETINGS: November 2003 - Connacht 31 Ulster 20; April 2004 - Ulster 42 Connacht 27; September 2004 - Connacht 13 Ulster 19; January 2005 - Ulster 23 Connacht 14; October 2005 - Ulster 36 Connacht 10; December 2005 - Connacht 22 Ulster 12.
