Ulster faced Glasgow Warriors in Belfast on Friday with their season hanging on the result. A positive outcome was needed to secure a play-off place and Champions Cup qualification, and Richie Murphy answered by making 10 changes to his side.

The selection brought academy player Wilhelm De Klerk into the starting team, while Bryn Ward also came in. Rob Herring and James Hume returned from injury, Tom O'Toole was back at tighthead prop after illness ruled him out of the draw against Stormers, and Nick Timoney kept his place at openside flanker and captained the side. Conor McKee started at scrum-half and Jake Flannery was named at fly-half.

That was the scale of the task facing Ulster because the margin for error had vanished. Glasgow arrived with a one-point lead at the top of the United Rugby Championship and had just ended a three-game run without a win by beating Cardiff Rugby in their previous match, leaving Ulster needing a result against the league leaders rather than a simple run-out to finish the regular season.

The timing made the gamble even sharper. Ulster were also preparing for a Challenge Cup final against Montpellier in Bilbao on 22 May, so Murphy had to balance a must-win league fixture with the need to keep key players fresh for a second shot at silverware. That context explains why the changes were so extensive, but it also underlines how much was at stake in Belfast: one match to keep the league campaign alive and another major final already waiting.

There was still uncertainty around the pack as Ulster waited for the outcome of a disciplinary hearing involving Iain Henderson after his red card against Stormers. His absence, along with the return of Herring, Hume and O'Toole, showed a team being reshaped on the fly for the biggest week of its season. For Ulster, Friday was not just the end of the regular season. It was the point where the campaign either stayed open or started to narrow to one final cup final in Bilbao.