Both teams have endured a mixed start to the new Guinness Pro12 season after each claimed one win – both against Zebre – from their opening two games. And that will only serve to raise the stakes at the Arms Park.
Blues assistant coach Paul John said: “Ulster are a cracking team, one of the best in Europe, let alone the Pro12. They are a good all-round side. “They have a strong pack, big ball carriers and players who can attack from all over the park.
“They have really good half-backs in Paul Marshall, Paddy Jackson and Ian Humphreys and real quality on the wings in the likes of Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe. So our defence will really need to be on the mark to stop their runners.
“They have been up their competing for the title in recent years as well as doing well in Europe so we know the size of the challenge.
“We rose to that challenge at the Arms Park last season with a huge effort and it will take a similar performance to do it again.”
Blues lost their opening home game of the season to Glasgow Warriors despite a vastly improved display from their forwards that left John frustrated.
He said: “We played really well for an hour but fell short in the final 20 minutes. The scrum was strong and our line-out won ball but it’s about how you use it.
“Our ball retention just wasn’t good enough because turnovers resulted in Glasgow scoring two easy tries that took the game away from us. That was hugely disappointing and something we have been working on this week.”
