RUGBY: Ulster's Darren Cave will remember his 201st appearance

The Irish centre was left bitterly disappointed before Christmas having become the sixth player to reach the 200 cap milestone only for Ulster to slump in a record 44-16 loss to Connacht in the Guinness PRO14.

Cave was not even named in Monday night’s matchday 23 to face Munster in the second of three festive period derbies in the PRO14.

But when Louis Ludik was hit by the sickness virus running through Kingspan at present - it was Cave the management turned to fill the void.

If 2017 did not finish in the way he would have wanted, 2018 certainly started with a bang.

Cave began the Ulster second half revival after they had trailed Munster 17-0 at half time.

He crossed for the first try in the second half and his celebration reflected how much it meant to him.

The then turned provider to send Craig Gilroy over for the first of two tries as Ulster moved into a 19-17 lead.

Rob Lyttle put the cherry on the top with a try in injury time to end a remarkable game - with Munster down to 14 men after Sam Arnold was red carded on the hour mark - and take a much needed five match points in the 24-17 win.

Ulster director of rugby, Les Kiss, who had been felled by the virus himself over the weekend in the lead up to the game, said that while it was a blow to lose Ludik at the last minute, Cave had come in and done a lot of work.

And, reflecting on the previous game, Kiss said it was probably just reward for Cave.

“I thought he played very well. He’s played 12 and 13, he’s had to cover both, and we’re flushed with centres at the moment so it was a blow for him that he wasn’t involved in the original team.

“But he stood up and did what he had to, that’s for sure,” enthused Kiss.

“We don’t know how Louis will be this week, it’s (illness) certainly hit the club hard - staff included - but that’s what a club is about, sometimes when you’re in those places you find a way if you’re willing to, and the boys showed that meant something to them tonight.”

Given Cave has not had much game time this season, Ulster should consider giving him another start in the midfield, especially with Luke Marshall still not expected back for at least another week.

There is no doubt Ulster’s fortunes swung when Arnold was sent off for a reckless high challenge on Christian Leali’ifano.

Kiss’ take on the red card was: “You don’t like to see anyone go off the game for those sorts of things, but (the ref) had no option, I thought it was quite clear.

“Ultimately it was a blow for them, but we still had to do the job.

“Sometimes it becomes tougher to against 14 men, or 13 men for a while.

“I think the beauty of that period was we stayed direct, we stayed to the plan and didn’t try to invent any fancy stuff, because we did the little things we committed to at half time in better fashion.

“Pressure is an amazing thing, it builds, and if you’re doing things in the right way and can find that crack in the opposition in that way then you can work hard, but you can’t do that unless you commit to the principles you’re about and that’s very pleasing from my perspective.

Both Ulster and Leinster have a short turnaround this weekend ahead of the final derby meeting on Saturday - then both go into their final two rounds in the European Champions pool stages targeting quarter-final spots.