Ulster's Nick Timoney relishing Connacht battle of the back rows

​Timoney, capped three times by Ireland, can play all three positions in the backrow and starts at openside flanker at the Dexcom Stadium as Ulster look to snap a five-game losing streak in all competitions.

“It always is against them and it’s a big part of their game," he said. “For us, as back rows, we have to be at the forefront of everything good the team does and we’re sort of involved in all areas to some degree, so if we have a good day the team generally has a good day too...so we’ll be putting that pressure on ourselves anyway. They’re really openly going at your breakdown, it’s a pretty common trend that you always get against Connacht, they come really hard for that.

“The depth they have in the back row is incredible, I would say it’s their strongest position because you’ve got Cian Prendergast and he’ll offer something different to Shamus Hurley-Langton and he’ll offer something different to Conor Oliver and Sean Jansen and all these lads.

“You’ve a fair idea what you’re going to get but there are nuances to it as well and with the form of those lads and Paul Boyle it’s certainly a big challenge and we know them incredibly well, so it’s a very personal one as well. They’re maybe not the monsters you get with some of the French teams but they’re not any less of a challenge that’s for sure.

“It kind of does feel with these inter-pro games that all bets are off and form goes out the window…whoever shows up on the day is going to come out on top.”

Four Queen’s players are in the matchday squad - Jack Murphy and Rory Telfer make their first starts, Scott Wilson is in the front row while Wilhelm De Klerk is set to make his debut off the bench.

ULSTER: Michael Lowry, Werner Kok , Ben Carson, Jude Postlethwaite, Rory Telfer, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Scott Wilson, Alan O’Connor (CAPT), Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, Nick Timoney, James McNabney. Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Corrie Barrett, Kieran Treadwell, David McCann, John Cooney, Aidan Morgan, Wilhelm De Klerk.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Queen’s backrow Tom Brigg played in the pre-season friendly against Benetton and has impressed for club and Ulster A this season, scoring a try in the win over Munster A.

Like Timoney, Brigg also captained Blackrock College in Dublin and on moving to Belfast played his club rugby at Queen’s. The Irish international believes he has a big future.

“Gavin Hogg (Ulster academy manager) asked me to speak to him before he even came and he had different options for universities that he’d been accepted to and Queen’s was one of them,” said Timoney. “And I spoke to him on the phone and the thinking was I’d maybe have some advice for him or something he hadn’t thought about but he had all the bases covered and had everything thought out.

“I just told him my experience coming here which is a positive one and tried not to influence his actual decision and he seems like a real smart guy, a real hard worker and he’d a really good game for the As.

"It’s good to have another Blackrock lad, since ‘Mads’ and ‘Jordi’ left there’s maybe been a vacancy, but he’s been really good and promising...as are loads of back rows at Ulster so it’s certainly an area we’re building some depth as well.

“Hopefully he goes on to play 150 times as well, when I spoke to him first I was impressed and he really seems to have his head switched on.

"​​​​​​​Working with him here, he’s been really good and always brings energy and that extra edge to training, so it’s been great to see him keep developing.”

Connacht v Ulster (Saturday, December 28, 7.35pm, round nine, BKT United Rugby Championship, Dexcom Stadium, live on Premier Sports, RTE, BBC Radio Ulster).