Trimble, Best and Henry to miss out

Ireland heroes Andrew Trimble, Rory Best and Chris Henry will rest up this week when Ulster travel to Murrayfield to face Edinburgh in RaboDirect PRo12 clash on Friday night.

However, Ulster will have Iain Henderson and Paddy Jackson available while Luke Marshall will feature in the match-day squad after going through rigorous protocols following his most recent bout of concussion.

With internationals Tommy Bowe and Craig Gilroy in the starting line-up, Ulster will have a strong side for the trip, even though star player Ruan Pienaar will be an absentee due to a shoulder injury sustained against the Scarlets last weekend.

Assistant coach Jonny Bell, who along with his Neil Doak, signed a one-year extension to their current contracts last week, revealed the Pienaar’s injury is not as bad as was first feared.

“Obviously we would prefer that Ruan wasn’t injured, but we have to manage him and hopefully he will be ready for next week, and in a worse case scenario to face Saracens after that.”

It will mean a rare start for Michael Heaney in the number nine jersey as he gets the nod ahead of Paul Marshall to see what he can bring to the party.

“Michael will come in and get a bit of a run-out. It’s a competitive arena behind Ruan and it will be interesting to see how he goes,” said Bell, who is convinced that Ireland’s Six Nations heroics should help the squad.

“The players that will come back from international period will have to realise that this is a crucial period for us. There is a lot at stake over the next few weeks, but having worked for Joe Schmidt in recent weeks, they know that they cannot take the foot of the gas. The Ireland experience will be good for them and the rest of the squad as they know they will have to be on the money.”