McLaughlin rests big names for Glasgow encounter
The Ulster team which will run out against Glasgow Warriors in the RaboDirect PRO12 at Firhill tomorrow (7.35pm) shows four personnel changes and one positional switch from the starting XV that was defeated 20-9 by Leicester in the Heineken Cup last weekend.
Rory Best and Stephen Ferris have been rested as part of the IRFU's player management programme, so Andi Kyriacou and Robbie Diack are direct replacements at hooker and blindside flanker. Chris Henry is also rested by McLaughlin and is replaced by Willie Faloon in the back row, but the rest of the pack remains unchanged.
In the backs, Craig Gilroy - who like Chris Henry has played in all of Ulster's 10 games so far this season - gets a break from the action. The one positional change sees Simon Danielli move from fullback to his customary wing position in place of Gilroy, while Adam D'Arcy is promoted from the bench to play at the back.
Tim Barker, Mike McComish and Ian Whitten are all named among the replacements.
Brian McLaughlin is aware of the challenge a visit to Firhill presents and knows his side will have to match the intensity of the Warriors up front.
"Whenever you're playing a Scottish side you've got to make your breakdown as accurate and as positive as possible. They'll be all over you like a rash so we've got to make sure that we're clinical in there and that we're producing the ball.
"The other thing is that with Scottish sides buzzing about all over the place, you've got to make sure you keep their forwards all in one place as much as possible. We've talked about varying little things, varying our lineouts and what we're doing off them. Hopefully that will help us as the game progresses."
The defeat at Leicester was one of Ulster's better performances this season to date, but McLaughlin insists there is still plenty to work on.
"Welford Road at the weekend was annoying. We had everything more or less right but we just made little areas at crucial time which cost us. We played through some fantastic phases but made mistakes in crucial areas. If we're going to go on and get to where we want to be as a team then we've got to eradicate those individual errors."
Ulster (v Glasgow): A D'Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, S Danielli; I Humphreys, P Marshall; T Court, A Kyriacou, D Fitzpatrick, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, R Diack, W Faloon, P Wannenburg;
Replacements: N Brady, P McAllister, A Macklin, T Barker, M McComish, I Porter, P Jackson, I Whitten
Unavailable due to injury: Jared Payne (achilles), Ruan Pienaar (hamstring), Paddy Wallace (thumb).
Rested due to player management: Stephen Ferris, Rory Best, Chris Henry, Craig Gilroy.
