Mutual respect shown from City of Armagh and Instonians ahead of Ulster derby clash

The home side are a point outside the play-off places while the Belfast club are second and six points behind leaders Old Wesley.

With that in mind, Armagh coach Chris Parker is expecting a tough and tight game.

“It’s a fantastic Ulster derby and the two teams have been well matched against each other over the last couple of seasons,” he stated.

“They've been very nip and tuck, so I suppose it's very exciting and the nature now of it being back-to-back Ulster derbies as well just adds another layer to it.

“It's a great way to start 2026 and it's extremely exciting for both clubs and for Ulster club rugby.

"The league is very tight there. I suppose you look at one game at a time and we need to get some points and try and close the gap between ourselves and Inst.

"But they're probably looking at it that if they can pick up points, they can widen that gap a bit further and keep touch with Wesley at the top.

“So very nip and tuck...the league's maybe starting to take a wee bit of shape now and over the next few weeks, there might be a bit more movement and splitting up of the league.

"Bragging rights is one thing but the points is what matters.”

Armagh go into the contest with a bit of momentum after winning their last two games before Christmas.

Parker added: “It’s one of those where the bodies are refreshed and rejuvenated with the boys but can we be as slick as what we were before the disruption?

“Hopefully, it stands to us and the fact that they've had to play in the last week against the 1A side may stand against them, but it also will have helped prep them and we're well aware from our experiences that whenever you play against 1A sides, it gives you a bit of an edge and gets your sharpness up.

“We've trained really hard this week to try and make sure that we aren't caught cold as we are aware of how well Inst will have prepped having played Hinch.”

Shea O'Brien, Paul Mullen and Johnny Morton return, hooker James McCormick is released by Ulster, but Thomas Dugan is at an Irish U20s camp, he's replaced by James Anderson.

Instonians are hoping to bounce back from last week’s narrow Senior Cup final loss, but despite the defeat to Ballynahinch, coach Paul Pritchard was happy with aspects of his team’s performance.

“It is going to be a real test,” he explained. “We had a Senior Cup final in between, which it's one of those things you don't know, is that game good for you or you know, does it make it more difficult? Would you prefer the time off? But we'll see on Saturday.

“Ballynahinch are a 1A club which had their contracted players as well. I thought we were brilliant in lots of aspects of the game and there was a few things that we weren't good enough around but it's about trying to improve things.

"It's about taking that positive, I suppose, and that we felt we could have won that game. We'll try and take positives out of it, obviously a bit disappointed, but we'll move forward.

“Armagh are a top, top team. I have a lot of respect for them and going to their place will be hard and it's about us dusting ourselves off after a bit of disappointment in the Senior Cup final around the result and trying to just, you know, focus back in on the league.

“They're a good team, we're expecting a physical battle, we're expecting a tough game, and hopefully the result goes our way but, you know, performance-wise, we're hoping to improve on the cup final. We'll see how we go on.”

Lorcan McLoughlin is set to make his Instonians debut.

In Division 2A Ballymena host Banbridge.