Ulster centre Cave did not feature in the 16-12 defeat to South Africa but impressed by scoring one of Ireland’s tries as they saw off Fiji 53-0 in the uncapped international at Thomond Park.

However Cave’s performance failed to earn him a place in Kidney’s squad for the 46-24 victory over Argentina.

But the 25-year-old will have a chance to grab the spotlight again in Sunday’s clash between Ulster and the Scarlets.

Ulster are aiming for their 12^th straight win in all competitions, and Cave is hoping to boost his Ireland prospects at Parc y Scarlets.

“I didn’t really do much during November, so I’m really happy to be ready to play again,” said Cave.

“To get my opportunity to play during that Fiji game was good and I felt it went very well for me. While the opposition was not great, there was not a lot more I could have done.

“I would have loved the chance to play against Argentina. But I was still very pleased with the way I did perform at Thomond Park.

“It’s great to come back to Ulster who are in a good place at present. Mind you the Ulster backline is as hard to get into as the Ireland backline.

“But to come back and play in this team is incredibly exciting and we have a serious chance to win some silverware.

“There will be plenty of opportunity now to showcase my game with Scarlets, then back-to-back games against Northampton in the Heineken Cup coming up.”