Ulster name side for crucial visit of Cell C Sharks to Kingspan 

Dan McFarland has selected his final match-day squad of the regular URC season to face Cell C Sharks at Kingspan Stadium on Friday (7.35pm kick-off).

John Cooney is back in the Ulster team for tomorrow’s crucial United Rugby Championship clash against the Sharks.

Cooney’s experience sees him get the nod at scrum half, and will leave him one cap away from 100 appearances for the Connacht.

Nathan Doak, who scored 11 points in the narrow win over Edinburgh last time, returns to the bench.

Ulster could finish as high as second and as low as seventh in the table depending on how the final round of fixtures pan out.

They need a home win in Belfast to guarantee a home quarter-final and have made two further changes to the pack.

Tom O’Toole is in at tighthead with Alan O’Connor coming into the second row to partner Iain Henderson. Gareth Milasinovich and Kieran Treadwell drop to the bench (KO 7.35pm).

ULSTER: M Lowry, R Baloucoune, J Hume, S McCloskey, E McIlroy, B Burns, J Cooney; A Warwick, R Herring, T O’Toole, A O’Connor, I Henderson, M Rea, N Timoney, D Vermeulen.

Replacements: J Andrew, E O’Sullivan, G Milasinovich, K Treadwell, M Rea, N Doak, S Moore, R Lyttle.

Cell C Sharks: A Fassi, W Kok, L Am, M Louw, M Mapimpi, C Bosch, J Hendrikse, O Nche, B Mbonambi, Tdu Toit, R van Heerden, R Hugo, S Kolisi, H Venter, P Buthelezi 

Replacements: K van Vuuren, N Mchunu, K Mchunu, HAndrews, J Labuschagne, S Notshe, GWilliams, B Chamberlain