FOLLOWING last weekend's huge win in South Africa against Cell C Sharks, Ulster will make the much shorter trip to Cardiff (Saturday, 7.35pm, live on Viaplay Sports) with their signs now set on securing home advantage in the playoffs.

The 31-24 win in Durban means they now sit in third place in the URC table, five points off second-place DHL Stormers, and will hope to keep pressure on the South African club with a victory on Wales this weekend.

Saturday's game will be their last regular season fixture away from home with the final three games all in Belfast, so going into the home straight off the back of another victory would leave them in a very strong position.

Last week saw Ulster recover from a Sharks try in the opening minute to lead at the break and with two Tom Stewart tries.

Stewart Moore and Harry Sheridan touched down after the break to secure the bonus point and with John Cooney in to form with the boot, Ulster returned home with maximum points.

“It was a huge result for the squad, watching at home was tough when you aren’t involved but the boys did brilliant and the conditions looked horrendous to play in,” said Billy Burns who was part of a group left at home in order to get ready for the trip to Cardiff.

“It was crucial after the Glasgow defeat and we can all be incredibly proud of the win.

“The guys that stayed prepped for Cardiff, so with guys coming back from South Africa we feel we got a head start and can get them up to speed as well.”

The trip to South Africa was a make-up fixture following the game's postponement earlier in the season so while other clubs had a week off, Ulster were forced into a long return journey.

Cardiff had the weekend free and coming off the back of their home win against Benetton the previous week, they will be refreshed and ready for the visitors who will be away for the third week on the spin.

“They are coming off the back of a good win and have had had more time to prepare for us,” Burns accepts.

“They are a massive jackal threat, big at the breakdown and have great guys over the ball.

“Jarrad Evans is a brilliant fly half, one of the best when playing well and a strong back three. I've never played there but looking forward to it, we’ve spotted areas we think we can exploit but it’s a tough place to go. We have to get another couple of good training sessions in and go there confident to try finish this block off with a win.

“Every game is huge because the league table is tight, from second to eighth its tight and we have to take it week by week. We have a target of a home quarter-final in the URC play-offs so this period is huge we can’t look too far ahead.”