Speculative Ulster 15 for this Friday's Fixture with Emirates Lions.

1. Andrew Warwick

2. Rob Herring

3. Tom O’Toole

4. Alan O’Connor

5. Sam Carter (C)

6. Matty Rea

7. Sean Reidy

8. Nick Timoney

9. Nathan Doak

10. Billy Burns (Chance of Mike Lowry starting as Burns looked to be struggling against Benneton)

11. Ethan McIlroy

12. Stewart Moore

13. James Hume

14. Robert Baloucoune

15. Will Addison

Ulster are slowly but surely getting back to full strength. Albeit, there’s still some way to go but Kieran Treadwell and Rob Baloucoune’s return are particularly encouraging. Similarly having Eric O’Sullivan back in the front row, I’m sure, is a sigh of relief for McFarland. As well as Callum Reid played (which, by the way, was very well) it was somewhat of a symptom of a thinning front row. It seems, however, on that front that whatever happened to Andy Warwick’s bleeding finger against Benetton hasn’t pushed him out of selection. I found myself tempted to throw Kieran Treadwell straight back into the second row upon his return but I think that might have been a bit of bias as I just love his style of play. I really hope to see him on the bench and even more so hope to see him making his first appearance for Ulster this season after some extended time out due to a shoulder injury.

I feel I have a pretty good idea each week of how Ulster will line out and I have a general sense of the pecking order for each position. However, once Kieran Treadwell and Iain Henderson are back in the running for those two shirts, the only thing I know for sure is that Iain Henderson is starting. Alan O’Connor and Sam Carter have both started regularly and both captained the squad at times, Mick Kearny has come in and been a solid presence consistently off the bench and of course the imposing Kieran Treadwell has been an Ulster faithful earning 109 caps in his years at the province. Although it is worth noting that Mick Kearney’s time at the club will likely only run until the end of the season at most. Undoubtedly, watching the locks vie for favour will be the most exciting positional battle to watch this season. Just as I’ve written that sentence about the locks being the most exciting battle, I’ve remembered Duane Vermuelen has signed with Ulster... so, maybe the number 8 battle will be a touch exciting as well.