Uruguay come to Belfast keen to improve on Cardiff loss against Ulster

The South American side, ranked 18th in the World, have qualified for next year’s showpiece in Japan, and are building towards that with a short tour.

On Tuesday night they lost 45-21 against Cardiff Blues and they will now look to target Ulster on Friday night at Kingspan Stadium in the second leg of their tour.

Ulster will field a side comprised of several senior players involved in last weekend’s Guinness PRO14 win over as well as giving some of their youngsters from the Abbey Insurance Ulster Academy.

Ulster have not faced intertnational opposition since 2008 when they defeated Portugal (62-6) in Belfast.

Operations Director, Bryn Cunningham, played at fullback that evening and flanker David Pollock, at 21 years, captained the side.

Darren Cave bagged four tries on the night - and Chris Henry was a replacment.

Henry announced his retirement this week and Ulster Academy manager, Kieran Campbell, cautiously hinted he may be involved on Friday night

Tickets for Friday’s game are available at ulsterrugby.com/buytickets

Last night,

Cardiff Blues clinched the inaugural Syft International Challenge as they crossed for seven tries against Uruguay at the Arms Park.

Los Teros drew first blood in the capital before John Mulvihill’s side took control of the encounter - they led 12-7 at the break thanks to tries from Alun Lawrence and Max Llewellyn.

Three more tries were added in a second-half purple patch with Ethan Lewis, Ioan Davies and Harri Millard all touching down.

Uruguay threatened a comeback with two tries in two minutes from Felipe Berchesi and Facundo Gattas but the victory was secured when Rhys Gill cantered over from a Dan Fish offload.

The Blues had not faced international opposition since losing to Australia in 2010, but the fixture rejuvenated a long tradition of touring teams visiting the Arms Park.