URC: Five Ulster players ruled out of Cardiff game

Watch Ulster v Cardiff live on BBC Two Northern Ireland & BBC iPlayer on Friday

Ulster will be without five players, including captain Iain Henderson and double World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff, for Friday's United Rugby Championship game with Cardiff.

Henderson (toe) and Kitshoff (knee) suffered injuries in Ulster's Challenge Cup quarter-final loss to Clermont on Saturday.

Rob Herring (hamstring), Nick Timoney (toe) and Stewart Moore (hamstring) will also miss Friday's game.

The Kingspan Stadium contest will be Richie Murphy's first home match since becoming Ulster's interim head coach.

Ulster will be hoping to bounce back from Saturday's 53-14 defeat by Clermont which ended their European campaign.

Murphy's side have also lost their past two URC games against the Sharks and Stormers.

'You need everyone'

With so many injuries, forwards coach Roddy Grant believes now is the time to show the value of the entire squad.

"Playing a lot of rugby, the way the fixtures are, you need a squad," he said.

"The way the last few games have been in terms of travel, you need everyone to be involved and to play."

Ulster resume URC action sat eighth in the table, currently occupying the last of the league's play-off spots.

Only five points, however, separate fifth and 11th.

"The way the league is and how tight it is, it's very important to win and get points," added Grant.

"The league is the bread and butter for every team. You want to do as best as you can in both (URC and Europe) but we've just got the league now and it's really important for us to get top eight for a multitude of reasons."