Ulster will grab onto any positives they can in Bordeaux ahead of one of the toughest missions any Irish province will face this season, so the news that Louis Bielle-Biarrey isn't in the home side's matchday 23 will be gratefully received by the visitors. Bielle-Biarrey was only recently announced as the Six Nations' Player of the Tournament and Richie Murphy will be relieved that the 21-year-old has been rested for the Sunday lunchtime encounter. There may be little respite nonetheless - Bordeaux's backline still includes Bielle-Biarrey's France team-mate Damien Penaud, who scored a hat-trick in each half against Benetton in round four of the pool stages. That result helped the second-placed team in the Top 14 standings top the seedings in Europe heading into the knock-outs and a home tie with an Ulster side that scraped into the last 16 as eighth seeds. The sides met in Belfast in December, with Ulster poking the bear by taking the lead in the second half only to be blown away by an unanswered 26 points blitz. Joey Carbery played that night and he starts tomorrow in a Bordeaux side that boasts three backs that played for France in the Six Nations clincher against Scotland - Penaud, Maxime Lucu and Yoram Moefana. Ulster have turned their season around somewhat in recent weeks with URC victories over the Scarlets, Dragons and Stormers, yet this test is on another level entirely. "We see it as a real opportunity," assistant coach Jimmy Duffy insisted. "They’re second in the French league at the moment, a brilliant team with brilliant players in a cool part of the world. It’s Champions Cup, it’s knock-out, it’s exactly where every rugby player or every rugby coach would want to be. “Putting yourself against the best opposition, that’s where we want to be, so for us we view it as an opportunity. We respect them massively. They’ve earned that and they’ve shown why here to see us off in 20 minutes at the end of the game. But you get that with quality opposition. We’re really looking forward to it, really excited." Rob Baloucoune misses out for Ulster after suffering a hamstring injury on his return from a long-term absence last week, so former Sevens star Zac Ward replaces him on the wing. He is one of three changes made from last week's thrilling victory over Stormers, with James Hume returning for Ben Carson at centre after illness ruled him out last week and James McNabney comes in for Matt Rea in the back row. Hooker Rob Herring makes his 250th appearance for the province. “They’re an exciting attacking team, a big forward pack, so it’s a massive challenge, but it’s European Cup rugby," noted Duffy. “As players, coaches, staff, fans, it’s where we want to be and we’re really looking forward to getting ourselves over there and showing up.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.