Henderson recovers from hand injury to play for Ulster against Ospreys
Lock's return is a massive boost for club and country
Iain Henderson's set to return for Ulster tomorrow as Dan McFarland's side get back to PRO14 action with a trip to Ospreys.
The 26-year-old lock's recovered from a hand injury, sustained last month, well ahead of schedule.
Henderson's return is also a huge boost for Ireland who take on Italy next week in their third Six Nations game.
Meanwhile, scrumhalf John Cooney's been discharged from international duty and he will partner Michel Lowry at half back..
Stuart McCloskey will make his 100th appearance in an Ulster shirt.
The 26-year-old centre made his debut against Dragons in February 2014 and has been a regular in the side since then, as evidenced by his tally of 17 starts in the current campaign.
McCloskey will combine with Darren Cave in midfield and together they boast 319 Ulster caps. Angus Kernohan, Louis Ludik and Peter Nelson are named in the back three.
The forward replacements are John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell and Sean Reidy, while the backline cover will be provided by Dave Shanahan, James Hume and Rob Lyttle.
Ulster team to play Ospreys, Guinness PRO14, Friday 15th February, Morganstone Brewery Field (7.35pm):
(15-9): P Nelson; A Kernohan, D Cave, S McCloskey, L Ludik; M Lowry, J Cooney;
(1-8): E O’Sullivan, R Herring, M Moore, A O’Connor (captain), I Henderson, C Ross, J Murphy, N Timoney;
Replacements (16-23): J Andrew, A Warwick, T O'Toole, K Treadwell, S Reidy, D Shanahan, J Hume, R Lyttle