RUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE NEWS:STEPHEN FERRIS returns to a 24-man Ulster squad for Friday night's Magners League game against the Glasgow Warriors at Firhill having missed the last two games for his province after sustaining a hand injury in Ireland's Grand Slam victory over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in the Six Nations Championship.
Ferris was forced to retire during that match after dislocating a finger, exacerbated by a deep cut. His return is a timely fillip for Ulster coach Matt Williams who will demand a strong finish to the season after a couple of very disappointing results.
Fullback Bryn Cunningham and Paul Steinmetz were not been considered because of injury but there is a place for Australian-born prop Daniel Roach.
The province will be hoping to complete the double over Glasgow having already beaten them 12-0 at Ravenhill.
Williams admitted: “I was bitterly disappointed with our last performance; we lost another game we should have won.
“We cannot talk our way out of it, or make excuses for how we played. Once again we were leading heading into the last 10 minutes, and lost a game we shouldn’t have.
“Every player knows they have to put in a performance against Glasgow, both individually and as a team. They are a powerful side, who will be out for the home win, so we must be 100 per cent on our game until the final whistle blows.
“Our focus is to take back the points we lost against Ospreys, and show what we are really capable of.
“This will be a week of solid match preparation. The players all know that they have to stand up and perform.”
Glasgow are fifth in the table, two places higher than their Irish opponents and coach Sean Lineen has confirmed his side for Friday’s game.
Colin Gregor retains his place at fullback having slotted four conversions at the Parc y Scarlets when the Warriors thumped their hosts 38-21 last time out, scoring six tries in the process.
Scottish international centre Andrew Henderson returns for the first time since suffering a broken hand during Glasgow’s Heineken Cup win over Toulouse in January.
Lineen enthused: “It was a fantastic result a fortnight ago. We scored some great tries, but we can’t afford to dwell on that too much.
“We’ve got four big games left this season, two of which are at home, so it’s vital that the crowd play their part and really get behind the players.
“Our target this season was to improve on our fifth-place finish last year and we’re so close to achieving that.”
Leinster, also in action on Friday night in Scotland as they take on Edinburgh, will confirm their squad for that match at lunch-time today.
Coach Michael Cheika is expected to rest a handful of players from the Harlequins match. It’s likely the entire bench from the weekend may start.
The team best placed to succeed them as Magners League champions, Munster, host fellow Irish province Connacht at Thomond Park on Saturday night with the respective squads for that match set to be confirmed today.
GLASGOW WARRIORS:C Gregor; L Fa'atau, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; R Jackson, M McMillan; K Tkachuk, D Hall, M Low; T Barker, A Kellock (capt); J Eddie, J Barclay, K Brown. Replacements: F Thomson, E Kalman, D Turner, C Forrester, D Parks, A Henderson, B Stortoni.
ULSTER:(squad for Friday night's game against the Glasgow Warriors at Firhill): Rory Best, Brendon Botha, Nigel Brady, Ryan Caldwell, Tom Court, Robbie Diack, Carlo Del Fava, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Matt McCullough, David Pollock, Daniel Roach, Bryan Young, Iaac Boss, Darren Cave, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall, Timoci Nagusa, Niall O'Connor, Clinton Schifcofske, Andrew Trimble, Paddy Wallace, Ian Whitten.
