Magners League– Squad news:With Jerry Flannery and Donncha O'Callaghan unavailable Munster have called Academy duo Mike Sherry and Ian Nagle into their squad ahead of the resumption of Magners League duty against Edinburgh at Musgrave Park on Friday (8pm).
Both youngsters impressed in Munster's B&I Cup win against Nottingham last Friday and will offer back up for hooker Denis Fogarty and locks Donnacha Ryan and Mick O’Driscoll respectively.
With Flannery in line for a possible suspension after being cited for his kick out at Alexis Palisson in Paris at the weekend, Tony McGahan may well take the opportunity to test Sherry at this level at some stage
Though O’Callaghan has yet to start a Six Nations game this term, he is nursing a knee injury and Nagle is included to afford him every opportunity to recover in time to be considered for the visit two Twickenham the weekend after next.
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has his key men available, with the exception of Stephen Ferris, as he prepares his side for the visit of the Dragons to Ravenhill on Friday (7.05pm).
The coach has opted for an extended 28-man squad with the likes of Paddy Wallace, Andrew Trimble, Tom Court and Rory Best all named at this stage.
Trimble, who has been in such great form this season, didn’t feature against the French in Paris because of an injured hamstring, but will be considered for Friday’s game.
Court came on for John Hayes after 50 minutes in the French defeat, while Wallace played a brief cameo off the bench in place of Brian O’Driscoll before permanently replacing the injured Rob Kearney towards the end of the first half in Paris.
Best's role will be a contentious one should Flannery get suspended. While the hooker is in need of game time having recently returned from injury, the Irish management will want to make sure he is fit to travel to Twickenham.
"It is great to get back to Magners League rugby,” said the coach. “This is a really big game for us, and we are looking forward to playing again at Ravenhill, in front of our fantastic home support.
“This will be our first fixture since our away win in Bath at the end of January. We will have to be very focused and play at our very best to beat this quality Dragons side.
"The Dragons are on the same league points as us, they have won five and lost five, and they got one over on us in the first game of the season, in Wales, so we owe them one this Friday night.
“We must keep the ball in hand and play some strong running rugby. The players have been training hard over the Six Nations break and are eager to get a good match under their belts - it will be a great game."
Both teams are mid-table on 23 points with Ulster sixth and the Dragons seventh.
Dragons coach Paul Turner will have Wales players Luke Charteris and Danny Lydiate at his disposal, while Will Harries has rejoined the squad having played in Las Vegas for the Welsh Sevens.
Other than that the squad that remains largely unchanged from the those that beat the Ospreys and Saracens in the LV= Cup and Lydiate says morale is high ahead of the Ulster game.
"The game against Saracens was great," he said today. "It was one of those matches where everything just seems to click into place it was the same when we played the Ospreys the week before.
“Everyone was really enjoying themselves. Usually by the final 10 minutes, you're all totally exhausted and counting down the clock, but everyone was full of energy and looking to get involved everywhere they could.
"We know that this is going to be a tough game, but we're looking for automatic Heineken qualification and the play-offs are attainable so we have to pick up points wherever we can."
Munster squad (v Edinburgh)
Forwards:B Holland, J Coughlan, N Ronan, T O'Donnell, A Quinlan, I Nagle, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, M Sherry, D Fogarty, Dave Ryan, T Buckley, J Brugnaut, M Horan.
Backs:C O'Boyle, S Deasy, D Hurley, D Howlett, I Dowling, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J de Villiers, P Warwick, D Williams, P Stringer.
Ulster squad (v Dragons)
Forwards:Tom Court, Bryan Young, B.J. Botha, Declan Fitzpatrick, Nigel Brady, Rory Best, Andi Kyriacou, Ryan Caldwell, Dan Tuohy, Ed O'Donoghue, Willie Faloon, David Pollock, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Thomas Anderson.
Backs:Isaac Boss, Cillian Willis, Paul Marshall, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Niall O'Connor, Paddy Wallace, Darren Cave, Ian Whitten, Simon Danielli, Timoci Nagusa, Andrew Trimble, Jamie Smith.
Dragons squad (v Ulster)
Forwards:Hugh Gustafson, Ben Castle, Tom Willis, Steve Jones, Pat Palmer, Adam Jones, Rob Sidoli, Luke Charteris, Danny Lydiate, Lewis Evans, Grant Webb, James Harris, Gavin Thomas
Backs:Martyn Thomas, Will Harries, Aled Brew, Matthew Watkins, Ashley Smith, Tom Riley, Rhodri Gomer Davies, Jason Tovey, James Arlidge, James Leadbeater, Wayne Evans