Henry, McKenzie in Ulster squad

BALLYMENA flanker Chris Henry and Belfast Harlequins wing Paul McKenzie have been included in a 24-man Ulster squad ahead of the Magners League derby against Connacht at Ravenhill on St Stephen’s Day.

Also back in harness is Ireland wing Tommy Bowe who has recovered from a back problem and takes over from Scott Young in the panel that defeated London Irish last week.

Henry, a former Ireland U21 player, gets his chance to impact on a burgeoning career at Eaton Park, while McKenzie has already impressed in his two games to date with the Ulster senior squad.

Both look certain to play a part in Ulster’s festive fixtures with coach Mark McCall still awaiting the return from his international members. “We have two big games in five days and we will probably be looking to rotate a few positions,” said McCall, who will name his starting line-up on Sunday at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Ulster’s Kiwi centre Paul Steinmetz said that Ulster would find no difficulty in switching priorities next week.

“We have had the disappointments of the Heineken Cup not quite going the way we wanted but now we have the focus of a important week coming up in the Magners League,” said Steinmetz.

“There have been disruptions this week with the Ireland boys away on training camp and also Christmas, but it is up to us to make sure we deliver the goods.

“Christmas Day isn’t quite a big a deal for us foreigners because we don’t have our families around but I won’t be eating any differently. It will be slightly different in that the boys can’t have a few drinks but that is just the way it is.

“But it would be nice if the weather stays fine as we haven’t had a breath of wind of the last few days and hopefully we will have the conditions to move the ball around. We know they like to play a wide game so it should be a cracking game.”

Meanwhile the Connacht squad shows two changes from that which travelled to Montpellier last weekend, with John Hearty replacing Conor McPhillips and Ray Ofisa coming in for Ryan Strudwick.

Ray Hogan (calf), Ronan Loughney (knee), Joe Merrigan (leg) and Matt Mostyn (ankle) were not considered due to injury.

CONNACHT (squad v Ulster): A Farley, A Flavin, J Fogarty, D Gannon, J Hearty, C Keane, S Knoop, M Lacey, M McHugh, K Matthews, J Muldoon, R Ofisa, C O’Loughlin, C Rigney, D Riordan, T Robinson, B Sturgess, M Swift, P Warwick, B Wilkinson, G Williams, D Yapp.

ULSTER SQUAD v Connacht: K Campbell, B Cunningham, T Bowe, M Bartholomeusz, P McKenzie, P Steinmetz, K Maggs, P Wallace, A Trimble, D Humphreys, I Boss, J Fitzpatrick, T Barker, R Best, S Best (capt), J Harrison, N McMillan, M McCullough, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson, C Henry, P Shields, B Young.