PAUL MARSHALL WILL have to make do with a place on the bench as Ruan Pienaar returns at scrum-half for Ulster’s Heineken Cup trip to Glasgow on Friday night.
Marshall was man of the match at Ravenhill last week with two tries as 2012′s beaten finalists launched their new European campaign with an impressive 41-17 win against Castres Olympique.
After missing the opening weeks of the season while on international duty with South Africa at the Rugby Championship, Pienaar returned to make his mark late on, scoring the bonus-point try when sent on to replace Marshall.
“Paul played outstanding last week and he showed what he is capable of with a man of the match performance,” coach Mark Anscombe told the official website. “But we’re in the position where we have two fantastic options at scrumhalf.
“Ruan came on and showed what a quality player he is with his distribution and try and the end. We have to select the team to win specific games and that’s what we’ve done for this weekend.
“Rugby is an 80-minute game and it’s important to have someone like Paul, who can come on and make an impact.”
Anscombe makes one other change for the trip to face the Warriors in Scotstoun, with Nick Williams available again following a rib injury. The New Zealander replaces Mike McComish at number eight.
“Nick has trained all week and has proved that he is 100% fit,” Anscombe said. “He’s looked sharp and it’s good to have him back in the team.”
Ireland international Stephen Ferris misses out again with a back injury so Iain Henderson retains his place at blindside flanker.
Ulster (v Glasgow): J Payne; T Bowe, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry, N Williams. Replacements: R Herring, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, M McComish, P Marshall, L Marshall, C Gilroy.
