Ulster hand Madigan chance to rebound after Ireland omission

IAN MADIGAN has been drafted in to partner John Cooney as the scrum-half looks to make an impact after being dropped from the Irish squad by Andy Farrell this week.

Cooney started the 35-24 opening-round win at home to Benetton last week and former Leinster colleague Madigan will be hoping they make an impact against in-form Ospreys at Liberty Stadium this evening.

Cooney struggled for form when the PRO14 resumed in August and lost his starting place to Alby Mathewson for the PRO14 final against Leinster and that set in motion his omission from the squad for the resumed Six Nations and autumn series.

Marcus Rea (23) will make his first start in a back row which features 27-year-old brother Matty, who was the star performer in the win over the Italians, but they will face a stiffer test this evening against an Ospreys side who had a superb 25-10 away in Edinburgh last weekend.

Ulster had to settle for a bonus point on their last visit to Liberty Stadium back in February when they got caught in the closing minutes and promising centre Stewart Moore knows they will face another big test this evening.

“Ospreys had a good win against Edinburgh last weekend so they’ll want to back that up as much as we want to as well.

“We’ll just get our heads down and prepare as much as we can,” added the 21-year-old, who played 80 minutes for the first time for Ulster in his third appearance last weekend.

Ospreys v Ulster,

Live, eir Sport, 5.15