Munster, Connacht and Leinster hit by Celtic League injury woe
Ulster coach Alan Solomons, on the other hand, is able to keep faith with the side that secured a nailbiting Celtic League victory over Munster in Cork last weekend and chosen the same starting team to face Celtic Warriors at Ravenhill on Friday night (7.30pm).
Munster, however, have 11 players either injured or ill apart altogether from the dozen others on World Cup duty and the biggest worry for Alan Gaffney is at hooker, where James Blaney, Jerry Flannery and Andy Long are all injured ahead of their clash with the Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday night.
On top of that Martin Cahill (shoulder), David Pusey (ankle) and Jim Williams (gastroenteritis) are further concerns, while Jason Holland (ankle) and Denis Leamy (shoulder) are longer-term worries, along with Rob Henderson and Mike Prendergast.
In Leinster, Leo Cullen may need surgery on a shoulder injury which could end his season, while prop Johnny Lyne (broken leg) and Aidan McCullen (broken arm) will also be out for some time and will play no part in the clash with Connacht at Donnybrook on Friday night .
The Connacht team shows five changes from that which defeated Borders at the weekend.
Three of the changes are in the backs, with captain Tim Allnutt returning in the centre and top try-scorer Conor McPhillips coming back in on the left wing.
Chris Keane takes over from the injured Mike Walls at scrum-half, while Bernard Jackman is selected as hooker as coach Michael Bradley, who has used 31 players in six games, continues to rotate his squad.
The fifth change is in the back row, where Michael Swift returns from injury at blindside flanker as Connacht bid to build on their impressive startof their six games.
Meanwhile, Ulster coach Alan Solomons only had to make one change on the bench ahead of the clash with the Celtic Warriors at Ravenhill. Kiwi hooker Matt Sexton is back from injury having taken a bang on the head over two weeks ago against Gwent Dragons.
However, in keeping with policy this season, Solomons said Sexton had to work his way into the side again.
"Paul Shields has done a great job for us. He has been playing well and there was no question of Matt coming into the side ahead of him. Anyway, the nature of his injury meant he was not able to train for two weeks ," said Solomons.
Sexton's inclusion on the bench means Dungannon hooker Nigel Brady drops out of the squad.
Ulster lie second in the Celtic League table, two points behind Edinburgh, next week's opponents, and a win over the Welsh side, is important.
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