Stuart McCloskey hopes that the rebranding of the United Rugby Championship will lead to more competitive games along the lines of the English and French leagues.
Previously the Pro14, the championship was deemed secondary to the Champions Cup for all of the Irish provinces whereas the domestic competitions in England and France are usually given top priority.
"It's nice having two full strength teams, maybe missing one or two guys, rather than in the last couple of years it’s been 50% of teams a lot of the time," McCloskey, whose Ulster side beat Glasgow on Friday, told RTÉ Sport
"When I started off in Pro12 there were more of those squads.
"Now we go into this tournament with only 18 games before you go into play-offs.
"You’ll see a lot stronger teams out there, much like the Premiership or the Top 14."
Meanwhile, Brad Roberts (above), Ulster’s South Africa-born hooker believes the teams who have come up from the southern hemisphere must adapt quickly.
The Lions beat Zebre, Ulster’s opponents next Saturday, while the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks all lost their opening games.
"It’s going to be tough for them, coming up to the northern hemisphere, it’s a different brand of rugby," said the 25-year-old, who scored Ulster's first try on Friday.
"They like to throw the ball around whereas all the teams here are very structured and disciplined and look after the ball, make few mistakes so it’s a different brand they’ve to learn to compete.
"They’ve definitely got the players but it’s just learning how to adapt but I think it will be good for the South African teams."
Meanwhile, scrum-half John Cooney faces a spell on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury in the 35-29 win over Glasgow.
"John being ever the optimist, he’s being pretty positive about it...but we’ll wait and see what the scan says," said assistant coach Dan Soper when asked about the injury.
Cooney joins Rob Baloucoune (groin), Iain Henderson (thumb), Cormac Izuchukwu (knee), Kieran Treadwell (shoulder), Luke Marshall (knee), Jack McGrath (hip), Jordi Murphy and Ian Madigan on the unavailable list.
Watch Munster v Stormers (Saturday 7.35pm) and Dragons v Leinster (Sunday, 3pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
