Ulster v Edinburgh, Kingspan stadium (Friday, 7.35, live on BBC2)
The anticipation surrounding Marcell Coetzee’s long-awaited Ulster debut is now down to hours, bringing an end to what must have seemed an interminable wait for the player and the home supporters.
The 28-times capped Springbok joined the province in the summer but was in the early throes of rehabilitating a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained the previous April. He lines out at number eight.
There were other snippets of good news for Ulster coach Les Kiss principally in the return of Irish international centre Stuart Olding from an injury sustained last October and also that of young fullback Peter Nelson, absent for some 15-months with a foot injury.
Nelson will start at outhalf in the absence of both Paddy Jackson, in Rome with Ireland, and the injured Ruan Pienaar. Tommy Bowe and Stuart McCloskey are included among the replacements having been repatriated from national squad training this week.
Bowe was a second-half replacement in Ireland’s defeat to Scotland last weekend. It’s good to see the promising Jacob Stockdale get more game time. John Andrew makes just his third senior start at hooker, completing an all-Ballymena front row by Andy Warwick and Ricky Lutton. Speaking of props, Wiehahn Herbst has also recovered from a calf injury.
The Scottish side lost to Munster 10-9 last time out. Coach Duncan Hodge makes one change with Fijian backrow Viliame Mata playing his first game since the corresponding fixture in Edinburgh last November.
It’ll be a poignant night for a couple of Ulster-born players on the visiting bench in Michael Allen and Rory Scholes.
Edinburgh’s last victory in Belfast was seven years ago and Ulster, with only one win in their last six matches in all competitions, will be keen to extend the visitors’ misery and get back to winning ways; something of which they should be capable.
ULSTER: L Ludik; J Stockdale, D Cave, S Olding, C Piutau; P Nelson, P Marshall; A Warwick, J Andrew, R Lutton; K Treadwell, A O'Connor; R Diack, C Henry (capt), M Coetzee. Replacements: J Murphy, C Black, W Herbst, P Browne, S Reidy, D Shanahan, S McCloskey, T Bowe.
EDINBURGH: B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, C Dean, P Burleigh, T Brown; J Tovey, S Kennedy; J Cosgrove, N Cochrane (capt), M McCallum; F McKenzie, B Toolis, V Mata, J Hardie, M Bradbury. Replacements: S McInally, D Appiah, N Beavon, L Carmichael, V Fihaki, S Hidalgo-Clyne, M Allen, R Scholes.
Referee: N Owens (Wales)
