The plan had been to give him a crack the other side of Christmas but then injuries made it imperative that Zac Ward was handed a starting shirt and now, of course, having made his competitive debut the 26-year-old wants more.
Though on the losing side last Saturday, he showed up with some strong running against Bordeaux-Begles and it was at least a box ticked from a childhood dream, though now another one, a home interprovincial is looming and Ward would very much like a piece of it.
“For a first cap, Champions Cup at home doesn’t get much better than that,” admitted the former Ireland Sevens star who shone at last summer’s Olympics.
“But now I’ve got the opportunity to potentially play against Munster at home so there is something little bit extra for those games so if I can try and get into the mix for that would be pretty cool.”
Ward has been converting to the XV-a-side game since coming away from the Olympics, but the cramming has taken time with more than just subtle differences between the games.
“I knew I had a lot to learn and more than I thought I would have to learn but I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight,” said Ward who had featured in Ulster’s pre-season friendlies before his competitive debut last weekend.
“When first speaking to Richie the plan was for my debut to maybe be in the new year just to give me as much time as possible to learn everything, but we’ve had a few injuries so maybe that opportunity came a little bit quicker.
“I felt I was ready, and the coaches showed a good bit of faith in me and hopefully I can repay them this week as well,” added the player who is bidding to make his way in the pro game as a winger after previously being a flanker.
So, he has been expanding his knowledge and a major step forward in that process was being on the Emerging Ireland tour, where Simon Easterby gave him some pointers and general advice while he also been watching clips of the game’s finest wingers.
One such player has been Damian Penuad who just so happened to be Ward’s opposite number last Saturday at Ravenhill while Ireland player Mack Hansen has also been featuring on his ‘must watch’ highlights reel.
“I knew I’d be playing against Penaud (last Saturday) and tried not to overhype it too much,” said Ward.
“You know you’re up against one of if not the best winger in the world.
“As a friend of mine said during the week, ‘he’s just another guy with two legs and two arms’ so it was just trying to remember it like that.
“I’ve watched a lot of clips of what he (Penaud) tries to do and another guy I’ve watched a lot is Mack Hansen.
“When I was on that Emerging tour Simon (Easterby) said to me ‘just watch him (Hansen), watch how he works off the ball to get his hands on the ball’.
“So, I’ve been studying a lot of what he does, and James Lowe and Penaud.”
Back home, though, there has been plenty of advice provided at Ulster by those who have deep knowledge of playing winger, and Ward namechecks some of his colleagues as being receptive to his queries and only too willing to offer their input as he progresses.
“In fairness, Jacob (Stockdale) has been a massive help as has Rob Baloucoune. They have helped me try and learn and it’s a good culture here, everyone wants to help each other improve.”
As expected, he is asked to explain the differences between Sevens and the fully-loaded game and he readily offers some insight.
“With Sevens there is a lot more space, but you have to think constantly all the time and you’re sprinting so you’re a lot more fatigued.
“It’s maybe a different way of thinking out there (in XVs) there’s not as much space but that means there’s space in other areas so I have to think about what I can do to help create space somewhere else for others.
“Just the same as guys creating space for myself and Werner (Kok).”
So, cap number two could be coming his way in Friday’s must-win interpro meeting with Munster.
“I’m just happy to play as much as I can,” he says.
Ulster have doubtless taken this on board.