The precariousness of earning a crust in any contact sport is best exemplified by Tommy Bowe. Last February, the Irish number 11 jersey was moulded to the 22-year-old's torso - until an under-par performance against Italy led to a rapid demotion.
Injury dropped him further down the pecking order. The last contribution before his hamstring popped against Toulouse at Ravenhill in October was a deft pass to send Andrew Trimble over for the first try in a hugely impressive 30-3 win.
Trimble cemented ownership of that same green jersey last month with a surging try against the Springboks. Then his hamstring tightened - and the international door reopened for Denis Hickie.
Both Bowe and Trimble return with clean slates, and healed hamstrings, on Saturday as Ulster travel to the Madejski Stadium to face London Irish in a season- defining contest.
Injury has struck another of Ulster's rising stars but the squad depth more than covers the ligament damage to the thumb of Stephen Ferris as it allows Kieron Dawson to revisit the club that paid his wages for 10 years. The former international openside is ideally placed to tell his team-mates what to expect.
"We were very disappointed with our performance, never mind the defeat, in Llanelli," says Dawson. "Hopefully it has given us the shake- up to perform here because the Irish mentality of losing on the road needs to be addressed.
"London Irish might start chopping and changing their team for next week's game, with one eye on their league position, but rest assured it will be a full-metal-jacket performance on Saturday as they seek a home win."
The only uncapped player in the Ulster team is Bryn Cunningham, arguably their most consistent performer over the years, as the fullback sees off Australian international Mark Bartholomeusz, who takes the place of Scott Young on the bench.
Over 12,000 tickets have been sold for the match, which kicks off at 3.30pm.
ULSTER (v London Irish):B Cunningham; T Bowe, P Steinmetz, P Wallace, A Trimble; D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Best, S Best (capt); J Harrison, M McCullough; N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson. Replacements: P Shields, J Fitzpatrick, T Barker, N McMillan, K Campbell, K Maggs, M Bartholomeusz.
