Clermont v Ulster: Teams
Ulster face Clermont in their 100th Heineken Cup fixture with Ian Whitten the only change replacing injured centre Darren Cave.
Last Updated: 20/01/12 2:00pm
Ulster head to Clermont for their 100th Heineken Cup fixture chasing the victory they need to reach the last-eight.
A win at the Stade Marcel Michelin will guarantee them top-spot in the pool ahead of the Top 14 outfit - and completing a trio of Irish teams in the quarter-finals.
The Irish side's boss Brian McLaughlin has remained faithful with his selection in recent weeks but has suffered a big loss with Darren Cave out of action.
However, Ian Whitten slots into the midfield while Nevin Spence provides cover from the bench following his recovery from injury.
McLaughlin's side have never won in France despite 14 attempts and their hosts are enjoying a fine run of form going unbeaten at home in 38 matches.
Important
However, Ulster go into the fixture boosted by a strong performance against Leicester last time out and are focused on rewriting the record books and making the knockout stages in back-to-back seasons for the first time.
"This weekend is all about clearing the next hurdle in our progression," coach Neil Doak said.
"We've got to go and get the monkey off our back by winning in France for the first time and we want to put ourselves in with a chance of a home draw in the last eight.
"Munster and Leinster are already there and it would be great for Irish rugby if we had three provinces in the quarter-finals for the first time.
"We have been building nicely towards this game and the players all know how important it is."
Meanwhile, Clermont have rung the changes following their imperious 82-0 victory against Aironi last week with 10 replacements.
Julien Bardy, Lee Byrne, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Julien Malzieu and Morgan Parra are the only players to retain their places for the crunch encounter.
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Coetzee, 19 Jamie Cudmore, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Kevin Senio, 22 Brock James, 23 Regan King.
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andi Kyriacou, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Nevin Spence, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
