Payne named in Ulster squad

New signing Jared Payne is in line to make his Ulster debut at Ravenhill this Friday against Cardiff Blues (7.05pm) after he was named in the preliminary 29-man squad by Brian McLaughlin.

The New Zealander arrived in Belfast last week boasting two years of Super rugby experience, during which time he lined out for the Chiefs, the Blues and the Crusaders.

The versatile back will offer McLaughlin a few options as he can operate on the wing, at fullback or in the centre.

The northern province are enjoying a clean bill of health this season with all of last week’s starting fifteen fit and included in the squad.

Ulster will now look to repeat last season’s feat of winning their first three games of the campaign but will face a stern test of their credentials against top of the table Cardiff.

Further south, this week has seen the return of Mike Sherry, Denis Hurley and BJ Botha to full training for Munster with all three holding a realistic chance of featuring in the RaboDirectPRO12 game against Scarlets in Musgrave Park on Saturday (7.45pm).

Ian Nagle (shoulder) and Darragh Hurley(achilles) are also on the road to recovery having resumed training and both are expected to be in contention for inclusion in the squad’s trip to Cardiff on Friday week.

A question mark hangs over Troy Smith who undergoes surgery today to repair the damage to his cruciate and Tomás O'Leary (lower back) who will see a specialist later this week to determine when he might return to training.

Peter Borlase (achilles) is looking at a five week rehab period and Felix Jones who saw a specialist last Friday is unlikely to be back before Christmas.

In Leinster there is mixed news on the injury front with Ireland back Luke Fitzgerald expected to be in the running for selection for the visit of Glasgow Warriors to the RDS on Saturday (6pm).

The utility back was forced to sit out last week’s game against the Dragons to recover fully from a knock to the knee against Ospreys in Round 1.

Second row Steven Sykes stepped up his rehabilitation from the knee injury that he sustained in pre-season and he could come into the mix, though a decision on his availability will also be made later in the week.

Following surgery on Saturday, it has been confirmed that out-half Mat Berquist sustained a fractured patella in the 31-10 victory over the Dragons on Friday night which, it is anticipated, will rule the New Zealander out for approximately 4 months.

With Jonathan Sexton on duty for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup and Ian McKinley having recently retired, Ian Madigan is the only orthodox fly-half left in the Leinster squad.

Ulster (forwards): P McAllister, C Black, J Cronin, D Fitzpatrick, A Macklin, J Burns, A Kyriacou, N Brady, D Tuohy, L Stevenson, T Barker, N McComb, M McComish, P Wannenburg, C Henry, W Faloon, R Diack; (Backs): P Marshall, I Porter, I Humphreys, P Jackson, I Whitten, L Marshall, N Spence, D Cave, J Payne, C Gaston, C Gilroy, A D’Arcy.