Saturday’s pool five fixture in Parc Y Scarlets may be absolutely vital for the home side but Isaac Boss admits Leinster will be travelling to Wales with a similar mindset.

Back row Iain Henderson will make his home debut for Ulster in place of the injured Nick Williams for Friday's Heineken Cup Pool 4 opener against Castres Olympique (8.00pm).

Eric Elwood has a lot of unfinished business before relinquishing the Connacht coaching job at the end of this season and one item on the wishlist is to help his side to victory at Ravenhill tonight, for the first time in 52 years.

Prop Declan Fitzpatrick has been withdrawn from the starting team for the RaboDirect PRO12 derby against Connacht after aggravating a medial ligament injury in training this morning.

The return of Ireland hooker Rory Best and club captain Johann Muller represent two of five changes Mark Anscombe has made to the Ulster starting team for tomorrow's RaboDirect PRO12 derby against Connacht at Ravenhill (7.05pm).

Rory Best will make his seasonal debut for Ulster when they face Connacht in a RaboDirect Pro 12 derby at Ravenhill on Friday night.

Big hitters and new faces are present and correct after Declan Kidney yesterday named a 33-man Ireland training squad for a two-day training camp.

Mark Anscombe has made seven changes to the starting team for the visit of Munster to Ravenhill tomorrow night (7.05pm).

Chris Henry and Dan Tuohy have been added to the Ulster squad ahead of Friday’s RaboDirect Pro 12 derby with Munster at Ravenhill.

Donncha O'Callaghan will not feature in Munster’s RaboDirectPRO12 game against Treviso in Thomond Park tonight (8pm) as his wife has been admitted to Cork University Hospital and is expected to give birth to their second child.

Head coach Mark Anscombe has continued to rotate his squad as Ulster prepare to face The Ospreys in the Liberty Stadium on Saturday (6.30pm).

Ireland duo Andrew Trimble and Stephen Ferris have been included in Ulster’s 28 man squad to face Ospreys in the RaboDirect PRO12 on Saturday (Liberty Stadium, 6.30pm).

No one would benefit more from Brian O’Driscoll’s absenceat Twickenham on Saturday than Brian McLaughlin — but the Ulster coach is keeping his fingers crossed that the Irish centre is fit to play in the Heineken Cup final.

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney has thrown down the gauntlet to Saturday’s Heineken Cup finalists on the fringes of the Test side to prove they are worth a place on next month’s tour to New Zealand.

The Ulster team to face Edinburgh in Saturday's Heineken Cup semi-final (5.45pm) has been named with Paddy Jackson starting at outhalf.

Brian McLaughlin has named Stephen Ferris in his starting XV for the massive Heineken Cup quarter-final clash with Munster on Easter Sunday (1.45pm).

Three Irish players are in contention for the ERC European Player of the Year Award.

Ulster will have an anxious wait before knowing whether explosive flanker Stephen Ferris will be available for next Sunday’s European shoot-out with Munster at Thomond Park.

Andrew Trimble and his Ireland buddies Rory Best and Stephen Ferris are champing at the bit to get a piece of RaboDirect Pro 12 action tonight when Italian minnows Aironi arrive at a bone-dry Ravenhill.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has once again made several changes to his starting XV for their RaboDirect PRO12 fixture against Aironi at Ravenhill (kick off 7.05pm).

Declan Kidney has made just one change from the team that beat Scotland for Saturday's showdown with England with Seán O'Brien returning to the backrow.

It says much about the strange nature of this year’s RBS 6 Nations championship that Ireland arrive at this Saturday’s finale against England wondering what might have been.

Rory Best will captain Ireland in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

Declan Kidney has kept faith with the starting XV he named to take on France in Paris two weeks ago, naming an unchanged team for the visit of Italy to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (1.30pm).

Declan Kidney has made just one change to his starting XV for Saturday’s crucial Six Nations showdown against France at the Stade de France (8pm) with Keith Earls replacing Fergus McFadden.

Rhys Priestland and Jamie Roberts started Wales’ RBS 6 Nations clash with Ireland at Aviva Stadium despite concerns over their fitness.

Keith Earls has been given the vote of confidence from Declan Kidney to fill Brian O’Driscoll’s number 13 jersey for Ireland’s opening RBS Six Nations game against Wales in the Aviva Stadium this Sunday (3pm).

IRELAND head coach Declan Kidney has added nine new faces to his squad for the opening two RBS 6 Nations matches but the majority of the selection debates for this weekend’s opener with Wales will be contained within his initial 24-man group.

ULSTER boss Brian McLaughlin was a man of mixed emotions on Saturday.

Ulster have made just one change for their 100th game in the Heineken Cup, with Ian Whitten coming in to replace injured centre Darren Cave for the vital Pool 4 match against Clermont Auvergne in the Stade Marcel Michelin tomorrow (4.40pm).

IT was meant to be tight, it was meant to be edgy. It was nothing of the sort.

Ian Humphreys and Pedrie Wannenburg have won their fitness battles and have been named in Brian McLaughlin's starting XV to face the Leicester Tigers in the sold-out Heineken Cup clash at Ravenhill tomorrow (8pm).

FORMER Springbok Stefan Terblanche will start at full-back for Ulster’s in Edinburgh tonight.

Ulster have been boosted by the return of a number of key players to the match day 23 for Friday's trip to play Edinburgh at Murrayfield in the RaboDirect PRO12 (7.30pm).

ULSTER’S victory in the Milanese suburb was not as convincing as the score suggests, but the only thing that mattered for the visitors was the attainment of a winning bonus point, according to Pedrie Wannenburg.

Brian McLaughlin has made just one change to his starting team for Ulster's return Heineken Cup match versus Aironi at the Stadio Brianteo on Saturday (1.30pm).

ULSTER successfully manoeuvred the first part of their Heineken Cup back-to-back clashes with Aironi at Ravenhill last night with a bonus-point victory in Pool Four.

BALLYNAHINCH’S Paddy McAllister gets a rare start when he lines out at loose-head as Ulster tackle Italian visitors Aironi in the first of important back-to-back Heineken Cup fixtures at Ravenhill this evening.

BALLYNAHINCH’S Paddy McAllister gets a rare start when he lines out at loose-head as Ulster tackle Italian visitors Aironi in the first of important back-to-back Heineken Cup fixtures at Ravenhill this evening.

Ruan Pienaar and Paddy McAllister have both been included in the starting team for Ulster's Heineken Cup Pool 4 match versus Aironi at Ravenhill on Friday (kick off 7.30pm).

IRELAND hooker Rory Best has demanded maximum points from Ulster’s next two Heineken Cup fixtures with Aironi if the province is to repeat last year’s run to the quarter-finals.

TWO tries by Stephen Ferris helped Ulster come back from an early bombardment by the Scarlets to claim much-needed RaboDirect Pro 12 League points at Ravenhill last night.

AFTER seven defeats on the bounce, Connacht’s Pro12 fixture with Treviso at the Galway Sporstground tomorrow is a must-win for the home side.

Ulster have been boosted by the return of a number of key players to the match day 23 for Friday’s vital RaboDirect PRO12 game against Scarlets at Ravenhill (7.05pm).