| Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast Date: Saturday, 25 March Kick-off: 19:35 GMT |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Two NI and the BBC iPlayer |
Ulster forwards coach Roddy Grant says the Irish province are keen to retain the services of Iain Henderson, whose contract ends after this season.
The Ireland second row and Ulster captain is out of action as he recovers from surgery on a fractured arm.
The injury saw him miss Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam clincher against England on Saturday and will rule him out of the run-in of Ulster’s season.
“He’s a great player who we want to keep in our squad,” said Grant.
“I don’t know the full ‘ins and outs’ of it, how things stand there, but any team wants good players in their squad and especially for us, he is one of the best Irish players and a British and Irish Lion.
“He adds a lot to us with his leadership so hopefully we can keep him.”
Henderson sustained the injury in the first half of Ireland’s recent bruising Six Nations encounter with Scotland at Murrayfield.
On the plus side for Ulster, wing Robert Baloucoune is likely to be available again for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship meeting with the Bulls in Belfast.
Ulster sit third in the table with three matches of the regular season remaining and Dan McFarland’s men still maintain hopes of securing the top-two finish which would see them ensure home ties in both a quarter-final and a potential semi-final.
Full-back Michael Lowry is set to be a pivotal figure for Ulster in a key run of upcoming games and he says the involvement of some squad members in Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam-winning squad is “a massive motivating factor” for others with similar ambitions to be involved at international level.
“Seeing the lads who had the opportunity to be involved and the internationals coming back into the group motivate the rest of the squad and make us determined that that is where we want to get to,” said Lowry.
“It’s all about pushing our boundaries and our standards so that we can bring out the best in everyone.
“The team performance will come first and then hopefully individuals can then be part of those wider Ireland squads we want to be a part of on the back of that.
“If we can keep improving each week there are great opportunities for those play-offs – we know what is at stake.
“We want to push on for silverware – this is the peak end of the season where we want to bring the best out of each other and be at our best.”
