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Prop Tom McAllister will make his senior Ulster debut in Friday's rescheduled United Rugby Championship trip to Edinburgh (19:45 GMT).
Ireland under-20 international tight-head McAllister - who joined the Ulster academy last year - starts in the front row alongside Australia loose-head Angus Bell and hooker Rob Herring.
Herring captains the side in the absence of Iain Henderson, who has been called into the Ireland squad before Saturday's Six Nations Triple Crown decider against Scotland.
Cormac Izuchukwu, Jude Postlethwaite and Bryn Ward all start after returning from Ireland's Six Nations camp, while number eight Juarno Augustus will make his first appearance of 2026 after recovering from an ankle injury.
Izuchukwu missed Ulster's loss to Ospreys on 28 February with a concussion.
With Nathan Doak still on Ireland duty, Dave Shanahan is handed a rare start at scrum-half ahead of Conor McKee, who is on the bench.
Shanahan, 32, has made three appearances off the bench this season, but Friday will mark his first senior start since November 2023.
Shanahan's inclusion is head coach Richie Murphy's only backline change from the Ospreys game on 28 February.
Jack Murphy is retained at fly-half, Zac Ward, Werner Kok and Michael Lowry continue in the back three while Postlethwaite and James Hume remain in midfield.
In a five-three split on the bench, James McCormick, Sam Crean, Scott Wilson, Joe Hopes and David McCann provide forward cover alongside backs McKee, Jake Flannery and Ben Carson.
Ulster are sixth in the URC table but will go second with a bonus-point win over 12th-placed Edinburgh, who won last season's meeting 47-17 at Hive Stadium.
The game was originally scheduled to take place on 3 October but was postponed because of Storm Amy.
Ulster: Lowry; Kok, Hume, Postlethwaite; Z Ward; Murphy, Shanahan; Bell, Herring, McAllister, Sheridan, Irvine, Izuchukwu, B Ward, Augustus.
Replacements: McCormick, Crean, Wilson, Hopes, McCann, McKee, Flannery, Carson.
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