Duane Vermeulen: Departing Springbok World Cup winner starts for Ulster in quarter-final

Duane Vermeulen, player of the match in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, was considered a major coup for Ulster when he joined from the Bulls in 2021

Rob Herring will win his 229th cap to equal Ulster's all-time record in Friday's United Rugby Championship quarter-final with Connacht.

South African World Cup-winning back row Duane Vermeulen, who will depart the province at the end of the season, is named to start.

Props Rory Sutherland and Jeff Toomaga-Allen, who are among the 10 players who will leave Ulster, also start.

Jacob Stockdale will make his 100th Ulster appearance on the wing.

Ireland Grand Slam winners Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen have both been named to start for Connacht after recovering from illness.

Ulster announced on Thursday that 10 players will leave at the end of the season, including Vermeulen, Sutherland and Toomaga-Allen.

Vermeulen, who starred in the Springboks' 2019 World Cup triumph, joined Ulster in late 2021 after the 36-year-old was signed as a replacement for his compatriot Marcell Coetzee.

Samoa prop Toomaga-Allen, Scot Sutherland and Australian lock Sam Carter, who is named on the bench, are among those who will also depart the Kingspan Stadium.

Craig Gilroy, who announced his departure last month, Rob Lyttle, the retiring Jordi Murphy, Gareth Milasinovich, Declan Moore and Frank Bradshaw-Ryan complete the 10 players who are leaving.

Ulster say they will recognise the players' contributions during Friday's United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Connacht.

"All of the players moving on from Ulster can be rightly proud of what they have given to our province, both on and off the pitch," said head coach Dan McFarland.

"It seems fitting that we get to recognise their contribution to the club in front of a home crowd at Kingspan Stadium on one of the biggest nights of our season.

"I know the supporters will join me, and the wider playing group and staff at Ulster, in thanking the guys for the part they have played in our ambitions as a squad, and some unforgettable memories for us all when they lined-out in the white jersey."

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune, Hume, McCloskey, Stockdale; Burns, Cooney; Sutherland, Herring, Toomaga-Allen; O'Connor (capt), Treadwell; McCann, Timoney, Vermeulen.

Replacements: Stewart, O'Sullivan, Milasinovich, Carter, Murphy, Doak, Moore, Gilroy.

Connacht: O'Halloran; Porch, Farrell, Aki, Hansen; Carty, Blade; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham; Murphy, Murray; Hurley-Langton, Oliver, Prendergast.

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Duggan, Aungier, Dowling, Butler, Marmion, Daly, Ralston.

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