Ulster prop Eric O'Sullivan relishing clash against 'very good' Leinster at the Kingspan Stadium

Leo Cullen’s side arrive in Belfast top-of-the-table while Ulster are seventh looking to bounce back from a second-half horror show in Cardiff last time out when they conceded 21 unanswered points to fall to a two-point defeat.

O’Sullivan was part of the Leinster academy and playing his club rugby for Trinity when he was snapped up by the northern province and has made 120 appearances in the white shirt since moving to Belfast.

“Obviously it is bigger because you are playing one of the top teams but being from Dublin, I don’t think that adds anything for me personally. I love it up here and here is home for me at the minute and I’m very proud to be representing Ulster,” he stated.

“I think there is always a bit of extra spice when Leinster come to town, they are obviously a very good side and we know what to expect.

“It doesn’t matter if their internationals are away. They will still have a stacked team, quality individuals that are well drilled and I think their league position shows that.

“You just have to analyse who might be available for them. I have played against (Rabah) Slimani a few times before, I’ll imagine he’ll probably play for them, so I’ll analyse him but similarly I am ready for anyone that they pick.

“We know what to expect going into the weekend but looking forward with hopefully a spicy edge.

“We have spoken about Cardiff a lot. It was a tough game for us and something that we definitely need to learn from.

“We have had a long time to sit and think about it and a couple of tough training weeks, so we are looking forward to bouncing back from it.”

O’Sullivan has featured in five of Ulster’s six games and he puts his current run of form down to having a complete pre-season.

He reflected: “It has probably been one of the first pre-seasons for a long time that I have been fit and available for. I have had a couple of shoulder ops in previous years so I missed pre-seasons.

“I think actually getting a block of training was good for me and hopefully that keeps going.

“Having a block where you can actually work on your fitness, get fit and do four or five weeks running and then straight back in.

“I definitely think a full pre-season is good for everybody, you can work on your craft, you can get better at your skills but it’s just about getting fit.”

With less scrums in the modern game due to goal line drops outs if the attacking team is held up over the try-line and the option of a reset from a free kick at the set piece gone, O’Sullivan knows there is a new emphasis on props to be fitter.

“There is definitely less scrums in the game but I think since I have been involved fitness has always been a key part of it,” he continued.

“I think the fitter you can be then you are able to scrum better because you are not tired in every scrum.

“One thing is maybe weight as you might get away with being a bit lighter if there were less scrums but then you look at a team like South Africa against them you don’t want to be light.

“It’s trying to balance being fit and being heavy.”