Tommy Bowe might have marked his return to an Ulster jersey in style last time out but the flying wing admits he will have even more inspiration this weekend as he gets back out in front of a fervent Ravenhill crowd.

The 28-year-old ran in two tries as Ulster downed Cardiff Blues 48-19 to make it four wins from four RaboDirect PRO12 games this season.

Connacht make the trip to Belfast on Friday night that not only sees Ulster return to their home ground for the first time since Nevin Spence’s tragic death, but also marks Bowe’s first run out as a home player for four years since arriving back from Ospreys.

And while insisting that Connacht will offer stern resistance – having downed Leinster 34-6 last time – Bowe is keen to make a great second ‘first’ impression.

“It was a great performance from the team last week and for me personally I was delighted to get my first game back in an Ulster jersey,” said Bowe.

“It was my first game in an Ulster jersey in a long time and my first game of rugby in a long time too so it was great to be back.

“I can’t wait to get back to Ravenhill. It has been one of the things I missed a lot playing away in Wales.

“Playing in front of a home Ravenhill crowd is something that is very hard to match and I am really looking forward to it this weekend.

“Connacht have been playing outstanding rugby and I think they will be coming into this game with a lot of confidence.

“So we wont be taking anything for granted. It is a huge game for us with it a week before Europe gets going so we will go out there trying to put a marker down so it is going to be a big game for a lot of reasons at the weekend.”

Ulster’s big guns return for the test of Connacht, with Rory Best playing for the first time since the Heineken Cup final as well as Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller, Stephen Ferris and Paddy Wallace all returning.

Darren Cave moves to outside centre to cover for Michael Allen, who injured himself whilst scoring against Cardiff last weekend, allowing Wallace to move into the No.12 shirt.

Eric Elwood makes four changes as he bids to lead Connacht to a first win at Revenhill since 1960 – this his first game since announcing he will be stepping down at the end of the season.

Prop Denis Buckley makes way for Brett Wilkinson at loosehead while Ronan Loughney, who last week was called up to the Irish training squad, returns at tighthead.
Elsewhere in the pack, flanker Dave Gannon replaces Eoin McKeon at blindside.

Connacht head to Ulster full of confidence having convincingly put the defending Heineken Cup champions to the sword last time out, but Elwood insists his side must push on.

"We deserved it [the win against Leinster],” Elwood said. “We are very proud of how we played and we knew we had it in us.

“As a collective, it was probably the best performance we have played, but the challenge now is to repeat it against Ulster."

At Ravenhill, 7.05pm.
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 49th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Dudley Phillips, Brian MacNeice (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eugene Ryan (IRFU)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (IRFU)

Live on BBC NI and RTE Sport