Ulster v St Français: Teams
Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin is hoping to make the most of home advantage when his side take on Stade Francais on Saturday.
Last Updated: 12/12/09 10:15am
Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin is hoping to make the most of home advantage when his side take on Stade Francais on Saturday.
In the first of back-to-back games against their Heineken Cup pool rivals, McLaughlin knows the importance of gaining an early advantage in the race for quarter-final places.
"We know how good they are, we know they are a great side with great ambitions for the season," said McLaughlin.
"But we have the same ambitions. We have them here in Belfast on Saturday, and we have just got to get out onto the pitch and play. We have to out-play them by being accurate and smart, and taking the home advantage.
"We have to be fearless."
McLaughlin has made a number of changes to his line-up, with Nigel Brady and Declan Fitzpatrick coming into the front row.
Ed O'Donoghue is named in the second row, with Stephen Ferris returning from injury to come into the back row.
In the backs, Andrew Trimble replaces the injured Timoci Nagusa on the right wing.
Stade Francais: 15 H Southwell, 14 O Phillips, 13 M Bastareaud, 12 G Messina, 11 M Gasnier, 10 L Beauxis, 9 J Dupuy; 1 R Roncero (capt), 2 B Kayser, 3 S Marconnet, 4 A Marchois, 5 T Palmer, 6 J Haskell, 7 A Burban, 8 P Pape.
Replacements: 16 D Szarzewski, 17 D Attoub, 18 R Slimani, 19 P Rabadan, 20 M Bergamasco, 21 N Oelschig, 22 G Bousses, 23 J Arias.
Ulster: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Simon Danelli, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Chris Henry (capt), 7 David Pollock, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Justin Fitzpatrick, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Niall O'Connor, 23 Jamie Smith.
