Ulster give Best and Ferris recovery time

Six World Cup players will make a welcome return to the Ulster squad ahead of their RaboDirect PRO12 match against the Scarlets on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) while Rory Best and Stephen Ferris are rested as part of a player management programme implemented post-World Cup.

Brian McLaughlin has included Tom Court, Paddy Wallace, Andrew Trimble, Johann Muller, Ruan Pienaar and Simon Danielli in his provisional squad as Ulster prepare for the crunch encounter at Parc y Scarlets.

Court, Wallace and Trimble received limited game time as Ireland exited at the quarter final stage and returned to training with their province this week. South Africa were knocked out on the same weekend, with Pienaar and Muller playing periphery roles towards the end of their campaign. Muller has recovered from a hamstring injury sustained during the tournament and is likely to take the Ulster captaincy for Saturday’s game.

Luke Marshall is not considered after fracturing his jaw in a club game two weeks ago, while Jerry Cronin has suffered a neck injury and is due to get a scan. Jared Payne will remain unavailable for several months due to his ruptured Achilles.

Ulster Squad: P McAllister, C Black, T Court, A Macklin, D Fitzpatrick, A Kyriacou, N Brady, L Stevenson, J Muller, D Tuohy, T Barker, N McComb, M McComish, P Wannenburg, W Faloon, C Henry, R Diack, P Marshall, R Pienaar, I Porter, I Humphreys, P Jackson, P Wallace, N Spence, I Whitten, D Cave, C Gilroy, S Danielli, A Trimble, C Gaston, P Nelson, A D’Arcy.