Josh Turnbull is prepared for a physical challenge as Cardiff head to Belfast on Friday to take on Ulster in the United Rugby Championship (KO 7.35pm).
Dai Young’s men travel to Kingspan Stadium targeting a first win at the Northern Irish capital since 2010. The encounter kick-starts an intense second half of the season for the Blue and Blacks, who have up to five games in hand in the league, while remaining in the Challenge Cup knockout stages.
But it’s about taking each game as they come, insists Turnbull, who is full of excitement about returning to action, five weeks after the dramatic home win over defending champions Leinster.
“It’s been a month now, and to be fair we’ve used that month quite wisely. We’ve worked hard on our game,” explained the club captain.
“Having some of the boys back has put a bit of a buzz in camp and we just want to get on with it now.
“You’ve just got to take every week as it comes, because that’s the way the season has worked out. Ultimately we’ve got a good enough squad to get on with it but we can’t go looking too far ahead.
“We’ll take each week as it comes, starting with Ulster on Friday night.
“They’ve got a brand of rugby that’s working for them now, having done some analysis on them. They don’t play off a lot of line-outs, they tend to drive and maul everything and play breakout.
“Ultimately, it’s a forward-orientated game and it’ll be about how we disrupt that and get into them.
“When we get the ball, it’s about how we look after it and how we play in certain areas of the field. We want to put as much pressure on them as possible.”
Josh Navidi returns to the fold for Friday’s trip, having recovered from a shoulder injury which has kept him on the sidelines since October.
However, Turnbull has no doubt that the homegrown back row will slot right in and pick up where he left off.
The captain added: “Navs is the type of guy you could drop back into an international and you wouldn’t think he’d been out for six months.
“He does a lot of hard work behind the scenes to put himself in that condition. It’s been no different this time.
“He’s worked incredibly hard and is in real good shape. I’m looking forward to seeing him back on the field.”