ULSTER Head Coach, Murray Houston, has named his side to face Leinster in Saturday’s third round of the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship match at Kingspan Stadium (KO 4.45pm) with only a few tweaks made to the squad.
Following on from last week, slight changes to the front row have been made with Megan Brodie starting at loosehead after coming on as a replacement in the draw with Connacht. India Daley returns at hooker and Sophie Barrett at tighthead to finish out the trio.
The second row remains the same, with Brenda Barr and Cara O’Kane running out.
Moya Hill and Maebh Clenaghan once more form the back row duo, and are joined by vice-captain, Brittany Hogan.
Filling out the halves, captain Kathryn Dane and Abby Moyles run out at scrum and fly-half.
The midfield partnership sees changes with Vicky Irwin starting at inside centre, and Catherine Martin takes outside centre.
On the wings, Lauren Patterson and Lucy Thompson take the charge, with Lauren Farrell-McCabe starting at full-back.
Houston sticks to a 5:3 split amongst the replacements, with with Christy Hill, Bronach Cassidy, Ava Fannin, Ellen Patterson and Stacey Sloan as forward replacements, with Rachael McIlroy, Megan Edwards and Lucinda Kinghan ready to make an impact for the backs.
This is Ellen Patterson’s first call up to the starting pack, with Lucinda Kinghan joining the squad from the Irish Sevens setup.
Megan Simpson is reserve for this weekend’s team.