Pro14 Rainbow Cup: Addison to make first start of season in Ulster’s trip to Munster

Addison featured as a replacement in Ulster’s defeats by Connacht and Leicester Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick Date: Friday, 7 May Kick-off: 20:15 BST Coverage: Live coverage on BBC Radio Foyle DAB, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website from 20:00 BST; Match report on BBC Sport website

Will Addison will make his first start of the season in one of Ulster coach Dan McFarland’s nine changes for the Pro14 Rainbow Cup trip to Munster on Friday.

Addison is named at outside centre alongside Stuart McCloskey.

Rob Lyttle starts on the right with Tom O’Toole, Andrew Warwick and John Hooker making up the front row.

Fit-again Angus Curtis makes his first squad since December 2019, but scrum-half John Cooney and wing Robert Baloucoune miss out.

Addison continues his return to action following a lengthy injury spell during which he questioned whether his rugby career may have been over.

The 28-year-old played his first game in 15 months in the opening Rainbow Cup defeat by Connacht and came on as a second-half replacement in the province’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat by Leicester.

Michael Lowry and Alby Mathewson start together at half-back with Marcus Rea named at openside flanker.

Jordi Murphy switches to blindside with David McCann getting the nod at number eight, while Jacob Stockdale and Ethan McIlroy are retained at full-back.

McFarland has rung the changes with Ulster hoping to put two bad results behind them after following their Rainbow Cup opener defeat by Connacht with a disappointing loss to Leicester as they squandered an 11-point half-time lead in a 33-24 reverse at Welford Road.

Munster, on the other hand, recorded an emphatic 27-3 win over a weakened Leinster side in their opening Rainbow Cup game.

Ulster beat Munster 15-10 when the sides met at Kingspan Stadium in January

Ulster beat Munster 15-10 when the two provinces met in Belfast in the Pro14 back in January.

Dan Goggin will make his return from a hand injury for Munster in a team that shows eight changes from the win over Leinster.

Goggin is joined in the backline by Andrew Conway, Rory Scannell and JJ Hanrahan as John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Chris Cloete and Gavin Coombes join the pack.

Joey Carbery is not named in Johann van Grann’s squad with Ben Healy named among the replacements as a possible deputy for Hanrahan.

Munster: Haley; Conway, Goggin, Scannell, Daly; Hanrahan, Murray; Kilcoyne, Scannell, Ryan; Wycherley, Beirne; O’Mahony (capt), Cloete, Coombes.

Replacements: O’Byrne, Loughman, Salanoa, Kleyn, Stander, McCarthy, Healy, De Allende.

Ulster: Stockdale; Lyttle, Addison, McCloskey, McIlroy, Lowry, Mathewson; Warwick, Andrew, O’Toole, O’Connor, Henderson (capt); Murphy, Rea, McCann.

Replacements: Herring, Reid, Moore, Carter, Timoney, Shanahan, Curtis, Hume.