Michael Lowry talented enough to play fly-half for Ulster - Ian Humphreys

Former fly-half Ian Humphreys feels Ulster need to decide Michael Lowry's best position to get the best out of the Ireland international.

Lowry has predominately featured at full-back for Ulster but started at fly-half in Friday's defeat by Munster.

Humphreys believes Ulster have a tough decision to make because the 23-year-old "is so talented".

"You need him on the pitch, you just have to decide whether he's a 15 or 10," he said.

Lowry started at fly-half as he guided Belfast Inst to three consecutive Schools' Cup titles but has been favoured at full-back since breaking into the Ulster team in 2018.

His impressive form this season led to an Ireland debut in the Six Nations victory over Italy, where Lowry scored two tries from full-back.

Head coach Dan McFarland handed him the 10 jersey for Friday's defeat by Munster in place of regular starter Billy Burns.

While Humphreys was full of praise for highly-rated Lowry, he admitted "things don't run quite as smoothly" in Burns' absence.

"They are different types of players. When the likes of [Stuart] McCloskey or [James] Hume, the outside backs or the nines, when they play week in, week out with Burns it just changes the timing, the lines of attack and the structure. It all changes.

"Whether Lowry can be a 10 going forward? I think he is talented enough but I don't think it is fair on him to throw him in for a one-off game here and there.

"If they want to look at him long-term as a 10, if they think Will Addison or Jacob Stockdale will return as a 15, they are going to have to find a way of getting him more minutes.

"It's a position where you perform well and you improve with the more time you can spend in the middle and the more minutes you can have. If it's a 10 he needs to have much more exposure."