Ulster ring the changes for rematch with Italian region

A curious quirk of the fixture scheduling means Ulster meet Zebre for the second time in the opening four rounds, having beaten the Italian region by 33-13 at Ravnehill a fortnight ago.

Accordingly, Ulster will see this as an opportunity to maintain their unbeaten start and make further inroads at the top of the table.

In what looks like something of a calculated gamble against opponents who have conceded five tries in each of their three defeats so far, their existing brains trust of interim director of rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak have sought to rotate their squad by making 10 changes to their starting line-up for the clash at Stadio XXV Aprile. This entails a first appearance of the season for Stuart McCloskey, last season's academy player of the season, at inside centre, who impressed at outhalf in the win over Munster in Limerick last March, and a competitive Ulster debut for 25-year-old openside Clive Ross, a cousin of Irish tighthead Mike Ross who joined the province on a trial basis after impressing in the Ulster Bank League with Lansdowne last season.

Michael Heaney also makes his first start of the season at scrumhalf, while Craig Gilroy comes back into the team at fullback and Michael Allen returns on the left wing, with Tommy Bowe switching flanks to the right. Declan Fitzpatrick also makes his seasonal full debut in a remodelled frontrow, with Neil McComb replacing the injured Dan Tuohy, while Roger Wilson returns to lead the side from blindside.

The net effect is that Ulster have only two survivors from the win over the same opponents, in what looks like being a tougher game this time round. This fixture is Zebre’s first home match since the opening weekend.

Perhaps helpfully, Ulster have the security of a fairly strong bench.