Best & Cave to make final Kingspan appearances for Ulster

Ulster veterans Rory Best and Darren Cave are in line to make their final home appearances for the province in the PRO14 quarter final with Connacht.

Between them, the pair have amassed 446 caps, with both set to retire from club rugby at the end of the season.

Captain Best has recovered from the ankle injury that saw him limp off the pitch in the European defeat to Leinster.

The hooker said, "It's hard to believe that after playing here so many times, you still want to do one more."

"I'm one of the few people lucky enough to have played at both Ravenill and Kingspan, and there are so many memories for me."

Best will be joined in the front row by Ross Kane and Eric O’Sullivan, while Iain Henderson and Kieran Treadwell will provide power from the second row.

A loose forward combination of Nick Timoney, Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee has been selected.

John Cooney and Billy Burns are re-instated into the half-back positions, with Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall partnered in midfield.

Abbey Insurance Academy players Michael Lowry and Robert Baloucoune will line out in the back three alongside Rob Lyttle.

Rob Herring, Ulster’s top try scorer in the PRO14 this season (seven), Andy Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor and Sean Reidy are the forward replacements. Cave, Dave Shanahan and Angus Kernohan make up the match day 23.

Connacht have won the previous two encounters between the teams this season, including when the teams met in Belfast back in October.

However, Dan McFarland’s side have been in good form since the turn of the year and have lost just one PRO14 match since early January.

Ulster team to play Connacht, Guinness PRO14 quarter-final, Kingspan Stadium, Saturday 4th May 2019 (5.35pm):

(15-9): M Lowry; R Baloucoune, L Marshall, S McCloskey, R Lyttle; B Burns, J Cooney;

(1-8): E O’Sullivan, R Best (captain), R Kane, I Henderson, K Treadwell, N Timoney, J Murphy, M Coetzee;

Replacements: R Herring, A Warwick, T O’Toole, A O’Connor, S Reidy, D Shanahan, D Cave, A Kernohan