Rob Herring will return from Ireland duty to captain Ulster in tomorrow’s Pro14 clash against Zebre.
Herring, flown out to Japan as an injury replacement for Sean Cronin, is one of six changes to Dan McFarland’s side.
Four of the changes come in the backs, where Rob Lyttle returns to join Will Addison and Louis Ludik in the back-three, while Matt Faddes comes in to partner Luke Marshall in the centre.
There are also changes at half-back, with Bill Johnston and David Shanahan paired together for the first time.
Nick Timoney is the other change, coming into the openside flanker berth.
Irish second-row Ian Nagle returns to Michael Bradley’s Zebre team for their trip to Belfast.
Ulster: Will Addison; Louis Ludik, Matt Faddes, Luke Marshall, Rob Lyttle; Bill Johnston, David Shanahan; Jack McGrath, Rob Herring (c), Tom O’Toole; Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell; Matthew Rea, Nick Timoney, Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: Adam McBurney, Kyle McCall, Ross Kane, Sam Carter, Sean Reidy, John Cooney, Angus Curtis, Craig Gilroy.
Zebre: Junior Laloifi; Charlie Walker, James Elliott, Tommaso Boni, Mattia Bellini; Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi; Danilo Fischetti, Oliviero Fabiani, Giosuè Zilocchi; Ian Nagle, George Biagi; Maxime Mbandà, Giovanni Licata, Renato Giammarioli.
Replacements: Luca Bigi, Daniele Rimpelli, Eduardo Bello, Leonard Krumov, Apisai Tauyavuca, Guglielmo Palazzani, Enrico Lucchin, Joshua Renton.