Rugby:Brian McLaughlin has named a greatly enlarged 32 man squad for this Friday's RaboDirect Pro12 fixture against the Dragons at Rodney Parade (7.05pm). Darren Cave (hamstring) and Ian Humphreys (shoulder) have responded well to treatment and are fit enough to be named.
Jared Payne was forced off with a dead leg in the loss to the Ospreys on Sunday but is expected to shake that off despite the quick turn around between matches. Andi Kyriacou also left the field early after suffering a neck injury during a scrum.
Ulster’s 100 per cent winning start to the season came to an end with the 32-14 defeat at the Ospreys. The squad will be looking for a greatly reduced penalty count during their second trip to Wales in a week. This would go a long way to get the campaign back on track.
Dragons have had a less impressive opening to the season, winning just one game in four, a 23-14 success at home to Aironi. The Welsh franchise’s only reversal at Rodney Parade in their last five matches in this tournament was a 20-13 loss to Ulster in May.
Meanwhile Munster coach Tony McGahan has included a fit again BJ Botha, Marcus Horan and Ian Nagle in an extended for Friday’s Murrayfield clash with Edinburgh (7.30pm). Simon Zebo, Paddy Butler and Dave O’Callaghan, also return while James Coughlan and captain Peter O’Mahony, injured the last day, are named.
Ulster squad:Jerry Cronin, Conor Carey, Paddy McAllister, Declan Fitzpatrick, Adam Macklin, Andi Kyriacou, John Burns, Niall Annett, Nigel Brady, Tim Barker, Lewis Stevenson, Dan Tuohy, Neil McComb, Pedrie Wannenburg, Mike McComish, Chris Henry (captain), Willie Faloon, Robbie Diack, Paul Marshall, Blane McIlroy, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Paddy Jackson, James McKinney, Luke Marshall, Nevin Spence, Darren Cave, Ian Whitten, Craig Gilroy, Conor Gaston, Jared Payne, Adam D'Arcy.
Munster squad:J Murphy, S Deasy, S Zebo, T Gleeson, D Barnes, L Mafi, D Hurley, D Howlett, P Stringer, D Williams, I Keatley, M Horan, J Hayes, W du Preez, J Ryan, S Archer, BJ Botha, D Fogarty, M Sherry, B Holland, M O'Driscoll, I Nagle, D Foley, D O'Callaghan, P O'Mahony, N Ronan, T O'Donnell, P Butler, J Coughlan
