John Afoa happy with leader's role in absence of international players

John Afoa is happy to put his experience to good use for Ulster over the coming weeks while the Irish players are away on international duty.

Ulster lost 14 players to Declan Kidney's squad although Stephen Ferris, Craig Gilroy and Paul Marshall were subsequently released from the Irish training camp and are named in the team to face Edinburgh at Ravenhill on Friday night.

Ulster will be relying on the international experience of Afoa, Jared Payne and Ruan Pienaar as well as established stars Paddy Wallace, Stephen Ferris and Nigel Brady to guide the younger players through the next month when the Ireland players are unavailable.