Ulster wing Zac Ward felt his start in the side’s Investec Champions Cup last-16 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles last weekend was a “really good learning curve”.

In his first season as a XVs player after representing Ireland Sevens at the Paris Olympics, the game was only Ward’s fifth senior start and he marked the occasion with two of the five tries Ulster scored in the 43-31 reverse.

“I loved every second of it,” he said.

“It was real tough, a real good test, but for myself personally, it was a really good learning curve and one I’ll definitely lean on going forward.

“I like competing against the best. I want to be as good as I can so I need to be competing against the best out there.”

As he continues to manage the transition between codes, Ward said he found playing in the back-three with Mike Lowry and Jacob Stockdale especially helpful at the Stade Chaban Delmas.

“Little Mikey and Jacob have been massively beneficial for myself,” he added.

“It’s starting to show on the pitch, we’ve all got really good chemistry and it’s just finding those little one percenters in training that start to pay off on the pitch.

“Jacob on his day is one of the best players in the world so to have someone like that to lean on is massively beneficial to myself.

“I’m constantly asking him questions but Jacob is not the only one, we have plenty of really good back-three players in the club, so I’m not stuck for advice.”