BILLY Burns is looking forward to playing at the iconic Cardiff Arms Park for the first time in his career on Saturday night.
The out half was rested for last week’s win over the Sharks but will be back for the United Rugby Championship clash with the Welsh side who are ninth in the table as Ulster look to cement their place in the top four and secure a coveted home quarter final in the play-offs.
“Every game is massive for us, and we know the importance of the result and how massive it’s going to be,” said Burns.
“I’ve actually never played in Cardiff from talking to lads who’ve been there before it’s an incredibly tough place to go and I feel like last weekend could give us a good boost going into this game and if we finish this little block of three with two wins it’s a pretty good return though we’re incredibly disappointed with the Glasgow game.”
“We come out of this with 10 or 11 points it will put us in a good place into the break.”
“So hopefully get my own performance right, a good week’s preparation and we’ll hit the ground running for the game.”
“In sport, momentum is massive for confidence and it’s probably something we lacked in this last couple of months we’ve been in and out and not able to back up performances so hopefully we can get that right.”
“It’s been incredibly frustrating and probably the toughest time since I’ve been at the club.”
“There were a few guys who stayed here and had the opportunity to have a look at Cardiff and with the lads back in hopefully we’ve got a bit of a head start and we can help those guys out.”
Cardiff have won seven and lost seven of their league games and are in a fight to claim the Welsh European Champions Cup spot for next season.
“They’re off the back of a good win last time out and have had a little bit more time to prepare.”
“They’re a massive jackal threat and Jarrod Evans the fly half he’s one of the toughest to defend against and they’ve a really strong back three so going there,”
“We’ve spotted a few areas we can put pressure on them but it’s about getting our stuff right and going into the game confident and hopefully we’ll finish this block off with a good result again.”
After sitting out the trip to South Africa, Burns is hoping with the batteries recharged he can find his best form as Ulster enter the business end of the season.
“My own form has been up and down, it’s been tough, performed well in some games not in others.”
“There have been little parts of our game, one week it may be our set piece, the next week it’s our launch attack or it’s our edge attack or our high ball skills.”
“It’s just trying to piece it all together, so it all comes together at the same time.”
