Cave determined to prove his worth as Ulster aim to strengthen their grip on the group

Darren Cave’s frustration at being left out of the Irish selection may have bubbled over more than he would have liked this week. But the Ulster centre has a platform tonight to show Irish coach Joe Schmidt why Mark Anscombe has preferred to put him in at outside centre and Jared Payne at fullback.

Cave wondered aloud about his non-selection for Ireland and asked "does the face not fit", which was a brave decision for the 26-year-old, who has grown up in a culture where players rarely question the decisions of a coach.

Having been part of the squad, Cave was left out of the November international series. It’s easy to see how he could feel dissatisfaction and perceive an international career is passing him by as the younger Robbie Henshaw is feted and parachuted in to deputise for Brian O’Driscoll.

But intelligent minds like Schmidt are likely to take a benign interpretation. Even if Schmidt's decision for his centres seems clear-cut, beneath the grievance it shows Cave cares deeply about playing at the highest level.

One cap
Roger Wilson may also get a lift from the support of his team -mate, who also noted that the Ulster number eight has one cap while "Jamie Heaslip has 60 and two Lions tours". The comment seems less to do with Heaslip's ability and more to do with the high regard in which Wilson is held in the province but not at Irish level.

So, tonight's match against Treviso has a number of sub plots to fuel the debate among the full house at Ravenhill as Ulster lead the way in Pool 5. With wins over Leicester and Montpellier, they are two points ahead of the English club.

The pros and cons of injury also kick in. Tommy Bowe, Rory Best and Ian Henderson’s absence will hurt Ulster but Anscombe welcomes back Ruan Pienaar from Springbok duty as well as his captain Johan Muller and Payne.

Scrumhalf Paul Marshall and Michael Allen, both of whom have done well when given chances this season, revert to the bench, Allen probably miffed as he scored two tries against Treviso last time out.

Ulster have never lost to Italian opposition in European competition and completed the double over Treviso in both 2001 and 2006. More importantly they beat the Italians 32-13 in Belfast in September, where Luke Marshall was man of the match. With wins over Zebre and Edinburgh coming into tonight’s match, the omens seem good.

In the backrow Australia -born and Irish-qualified Sean Doyle is a name unfamiliar to many.

The flanker, who played just a few times last year, missed most of last season with a broken leg playing with Dungannon in the AIL. But his background is a former 'A' squad player with the Waratahs and Western Force. The natural openside joins Robbie Diack and Wilson.

Big scalps
Ulster will see Treviso as dangerous if they can lift their game. Inconsistency is an issue with them as well as discipline. They have never beaten an Irish team in the competition but have taken big scalps – Ospreys, Biarritz and Perpignan.

Last week the Italians could have beaten Cardiff in Stadio Monigo but ended up drawing 26-26, indiscipline giving Gareth Davies a late penalty to deny them their third league win of the season.

To that end Paddy Jackson and Pienaar will be available with Jackson the starting kicker as Pienaar spent most of his time watching the Springboks as Jackson’s boot steered Ulster to a number of wins over the last number of weeks.

The backline is also striking with Craig Gilroy and Andrew Trimble out wide and Marshall and Cave in the centre. Quality ball and any one of them will cause trouble. Payne adds an attacking threat from fullback.

A win would give Ulster a tight grip on the pool with another next week the perfect platform for entering 2014.

Anscombe will expect nothing less.

ULSTER: J Payne, A Trimble, D Cave. L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Herring, J Afoa, J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, R Diack, S Doyle, R Wilson; Replacements: N Annett, C Black, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, M McComish, P Marshall, M Allen, D McIlwaine.
TREVISO: L McLean; L Nitoglia, M Campagnaro, A Sgarbi, A Esposito; M Berquist, E Gori; A de Marchi, L Ghiraldini, L Cittadini, A Pavenello , C Van Zyl, A Zanni, D Budd, R Barbieri. Replacements: F Sbaragini, M Rizzo, I Fernanzez-Rouyet, P Derbyshire, M Filippucci, C lomanu, T Botes, J Ambrosini
Referee: L Pearce (RFU)
Previous meetings: P4 W4: 2001-02: W 33-25 (a); W 59-3 (h); 2005-06 W 27-0 (h); W 43-26 (a)
Betting (Paddy Powers): 1/100 Ulster, 50/1 Draw, 18/1 Treviso. Handicap odds (Treviso +22pts) 10/11 Ulster, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Treviso.
Verdict: Ulster win