Ciaran Donaghy

Marcus Rea has made his career as a groundhog openside flanker with nearly 70% of his appearances for Ulster coming in the No7 shirt.

It may be only round five of the All Ireland League but Instonians’ promotion credentials in Division 2A will be fully tested as they travel to Galway to face Corinthians.

Three wins from four games and two with try bonus points have propelled Ballynahinch to third place in the Division 1A table.

​Hooker James McCormick has overcome adversity to earn his place in Richie Murphy’s Ulster, with the 22-year-old scoring his first try for the province in the victory over the Ospreys last week.

Nick Timoney believes Ulster can - and must - make improvements during their month of no matches due to the international break in the United Rugby Championship.

Jamie Conlan believes Friday’s big fight night at the SSE Arena needs no hype and all the talking will be done in the ring.

Padraig McCrory made his professional debut seven years ago in a virtually empty SSE Arena when he fought on the lower end of the undercard, but tonight the ‘Hammer’ will be the headline attraction against Colombian Leonard Carrillo at the Belfast venue.

Matthew Boreland is hoping for a dream fight at the Coleraine Showgrounds after extending his record to four wins out of four with an eight round points victory over Callum Turnbull at the SSE Arena.

Instonians lost their first game of the season at Corinthians two weeks ago but there was no lasting sense of disappointment for coach Paul Pritchard due to the performance of his team.

Ireland U20s centre Wilhelm De Klerk wants to make up for lost time by helping Queen’s reach the Division 1B play-offs this season.