RUAN PIENAAR returns to the Ulster line-up for Friday's PRO12 clash with Newport-Gwent Dragons at Kingspan Stadium, where a win would propel Less Kiss' side to the top of the table.
The South African international, who had been suffering from a virus which ruled him out for two weeks, has now recovered and will occupy the number nine jersey, with Ian Humphreys joining him at half-back. Paddy Jackson will start the game on the bench along with Nick Williams as Kiss makes four changes from the side that secured a bonus-point win over Treviso last weekend.
Jason Stockdale, who made his debut in the game in Italy, will make his first senior start for the province after being named on the left-wing. In the forwards, Pete Browne will partner Alan O'Connor in the second-row as Franco van der Merwe, who has started 16 of Ulster's 18 games this season, is given a well-earned rest. Browne (28) will be anxious to impress during the Six Nations window, as he prepares to make only his third start for the team.
Ulster must now look to the PRO12 as their only chance of lifting silverware for the first time since 2006, now their hopes of securing a place in the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup have been extinguished. A win on Friday night would represent the perfect response as Ulster prepare for the first of three games in-a-row in Belfast as they aim to hold down a place in the top-two and earn a home semi-final.
"The focus is against the Dragons but, the next weekend, we've got Glasgow and then the Scarlets on the Sunday after that," said Browne, who came off the bench in the Treviso game.
"These three home games are really big for us and we're looking forward to the challenge and, hopefully, we'll get the wins. The Dragons like to disrupt the opposition and stop them from playing, so that will require us to be very precise in the way we play the game, especially at the breakdown and collision-zone. We will just have to adapt to any situations that might arise as they happen either with the opposition or the referee and not panic.
"We didn't panic when we were only 6-3 up at half-time in the Treviso match and we trusted our own game plan and played much better in the second-half, but we'll be wanting an 80-minute display against the Dragons."
TEAM NEWS
Ulster: L Ludik; C Gilroy, D Cave, S Olding, J Stockdale; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; C Black, R Herring (capt.), R Lutton; A O'Connor, P Browne; R Diack, S Reidy, R Wilson; Replacements: J Andrew, K McCall, B Ross, C Ross, N Williams, P Marshall, P Jackson, R Scholes.
Dragons: C Meyer, A Hewitt, A Hughes, A Warren, H Amos, A O'Brien, C Davies; P Price, E Dee, B Harris, M Screech, R Landman (c), B White, N Cudd, E Jackson; Replacements: R Buckley, B Stankovich, S Knight, C Hill, J Benjamin, S Pretorius, G R Jones, N Scott.
