Pienaar and Williams set to return for Ulster trip to Glasgow
However, Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris will not start after failing to recover from a back ailment which ruled him out of the bonus-try victory over Castres last week.
Paul Marshall, the unfortunate two-try man-of-the-match from the 41-17 win over the French side last weekend, finds himself on the bench alongside the in-form Michael McComish as coach Mark Anscombe makes two changes.
“Paul played outstanding last week and he showed what he is capable of with a man of the match performance,” said Anscombe.
“But we’re in the position where we have two fantastic options at scrum-half.
“Ruan came on and showed what a quality player he is with his distribution and try and the end. We have to select the team to win specific games and that’s what we’ve done for this weekend. Rugby is an 80-minute game and it’s important to have someone like Paul, who can come on and make an impact.”
The Ulster coach is also pleased to have his protégé Williams back in harness again following his absence last week with a rib injury.
“Nick has trained all week and has proved that he is 100% fit. He’s looked sharp in training and it’s good to have him back in the team.
“We’re getting more and more players back from injury and it is allowing us to get close to a full strength team. We now just have a couple of players missing so it’s looking quite promising.”
Meanwhile, loose-head prop Tom Court has proved he is a durable character after facing brickbats galore following Ireland’s disastrous set-pieces at Twickenham last season when he performed on the right-hand side of the scrum.
However, the laid-back Court bounced back in no uncertain terms this season, albeit at the other side of the scrum, and will again form one of the cornerstones of a front-row that has been the backbone of Ulster’s unbeaten run this season. With Rory Best at hooker and All Black John Afoa at tight-head, Ulster’s scrum has been its strength and the major building block.
“I think across the squad everyone is under pressure and there aren’t too many boys that can sit there and play rubbish week to week and still get picked. So you have to be at your best,” said Court.
“I think there are even times when you do alright you could still find yourself being left out because there is so much quality coming through.
“I was personally disappointed last week against Castres with the penalties and the sin-binning, it was probably more a lack of concentration than anything malicious and when things like that happen it is very disappointing.
“But we were happy to get the bonus-point try and take five points out of it. From our standards and from the way we have been playing this season it is not good enough and we definitely want to play better than that.
“Glasgow showed last week they can throw it down to anybody, I think if we give them a 15-point start they won’t make the same mistake so it’s a big challenge for us.”
