Bourgoin v Ulster: Teams

Steve Williams takes charge of Ulster for their second Heineken Cup match of the campaign as they travel to France to face Bourgoin.

Head coach Mark McCall resigned from his position on Tuesday and his interim successor Williams has made several changes for the clash at Stade Pierre Rajon.

Paul Steinmetz returns at inside centre after finally recovering from the head injury that has ruled him out for the last two months.

Scottish centre Rob Dewey drops to the bench to accomodate Steinmetz, while Simon Danielli also returns, replacing Mark McCrea on the left wing.

Mark Bartholomeusz comes in for Bryn Cunningham in the full-back position, with Cunningham dropping out of the squad.

Academy player Niall O'Connor gets his chance on the bench after David Humphreys was ruled out with an ankle injury.

The front row remains unchanged from last weekend's defeat to Gloucester, although Matt McCullough returns to partner former Bourgoin player Carlo Del Fava in the second row.

Williams acknowledged that it has been a difficult week for the club and said:

"People are very upset about what has happened and really there is no point in pretending that we aren't.

"But, we have a game coming up at the weekend no matter what has happened. We are all in the process of getting over the news, but one eye this week is always going to be on Friday night and we have to keep going on.

"Bourgoin have an impressive pack, they are very typically French, they have big direct centres and straight hard-running wingers with bags of pace. We are well aware of the challenge we face on Friday night and we intend to hit them head on."

Bourgoin director of rugby Pierre Raschi has made a total of six changes to his side after their opening round defeat against the Ospreys.

There are three changes apiece in the forwards and backs. Up front there are two new faces in the back-row with Augusto Petrilli and Julien Frier joining last week's sole survivor Mark Rennie. The other change sees Damien Fevre starting at second row ahead of Julien Pierre.

Behind the pack Florian Denos and David Janin start at full-back and right wing respectively, meaning there is no place in the squad for Anthony Forest whilst Matthieu Nicolas has to settle for a place on the bench.

Bourgoin: 15 F Denos; 14 D Janin, 13 R Coetzee, 12 Y David, 11 J Coux; 10 B Boyet, 9 M Parra; 1 A Tchougong, 2 B Cabello, 3 O Sourgens, 4 D Fevre, 5 B Williams, 6 J Frier (capt), 7 A Petrilli, 8 M Rennie.

Replacements: 16 J Genevois, 17 P Cardinali, 18 C Wyatt, 19 Y Labrit, 20 M Forest, 21 S Laloo, 22 M Nicolas.

Ulster: 15 M Bartholomeusz; 14 T Bowe, 13 A Trimble, 12 P Steinmetz, 11 S Danielli; 10 P Wallace, 9 I Boss; 1 J Fitzpatrick, 2 R Best (Capt), 3 B Young, 4 M McCullough, 5 C Del Fava, 6 N Best, 7 K Dawson, 8 R Wilson

Replacements: 16 N Brady, 17 D Fitzpatrick, 18 R Caldwell, 19 D Pollock, 20 K Campbell, 21 N O'Connor, 22 R Dewey

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)