Ulster v Leinster team news: After the guts of a year spent cooling his heels on the sidelines, Gordon D'Arcy will finally be back in the thick of things when Leinster travel to Ravenhill on Saturday.
The Ireland centre has not played since breaking an arm against Italy in February's Six Nations opener but, having proved his fitness, is named in Michael Cheika's squad for the match against with Ulster.
D'Arcy's return is a timely one for Cheika with both Shane Horgan and Brian O'Driscoll rested for the sell-out in Belfast. But with both Felipe Contepomi and Isa Nacewa also back in the frame it remains to be seen whether D'Arcy will be handed a starting role alongside Luke Fitzgerald in the Leinster midfield.
"Nacewa and Contepomi have both made their returns so that gives us - with D'Arcy back - almost a full backline compliment to choose from and that will be a welcome choice," explained Cheika
"I think the competition for that final backline spot is gonna be a fierce one and that's what we need. The harder the competition within the squad, the more competitive we'll be on the field."
CJ van der Linde appears to have recovered from the calf strain that ruled him out of the Heineken Cup defeat in Castres but Bernard Jackman will miss the festive programme, and potentially January's pivotal European clash with Wasps, after having surgery on a knee injury. John Fogarty or Brian Blaney will start in Jackman's absence.
Cheika admitted the players had been hurt by that defeat in France, and the mauling in the press that followed, but are determined to use that criticism as "fuel" going forward.
"They were pretty devastated after it," the coach conceded. "Not just from losing, but from letting down a lot of people who went down there for the trip. We really should have played better, even if we didn't have a brilliant game we should have taken that little extra bit and won the game.
"We've got to make sure that the experience adds to our character for the next time we're in that situation. If we have to use some of the criticism that we've taken as fuel, then we'll do that."
Matt Williams will be without secondrow forwards Ryan Caldwell and Carlo Del Fava for Leinster's trip north while Cillian Willis and Simon Danielli remain on the injured list.
But with Timoci Nagusa recovering from the hamstring problem that curtailed his involvement in Europe, Williams is confident of building on the province's recent run of success.
"It is a really exciting time for the team at the moment, everything is coming together for us and we are playing a good game," said the former Leinster coach. "The players have worked hard in the build up to the Leinster game and expectations are really high at the moment.
"Leinster will have their big hitters on the pitch on Saturday, and we will be ready to face them."
Leinster squad
Forwards: C Healy, R McCormack, B Blaney, J Fogarty, CJ van der Linde, S Wright, T Hogan, D Toner, C Jowitt, M O'Kelly, R Elsom, S Keogh, S Jennings, S O'Brien, J Heaslip
Backs: C Keane, C Whitaker, I Nacewa, J Sexton, R Kearney, S Keogh, F Contepomi, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, G Dempsey
Ulster squad
Forwards: T Anderson; R Best, J Fitzpatrick, N Brady, T Court, B Botha, B Young, E O'Donoghue, M McCullough, K Dawson, R Diack, S Ferris, D Pollock, C Henry
Backs: B Cunningham; T Nagusa, D Cave, A Trimble, R Dewey, P Marshall, C Schifcofske, I Boss, P Steinmetz, I Humphreys, M McCrea, P Wallace
