Timoney fired up to scorch the Dragons once again

THE game had barely passed the half hour mark when two events simultaneously unfolded which both had implications for Nick Timoney.

As he watched Clive Ross (right) leave the field with an injury, the 22-year-old suddenly found he was now the most experienced member of Ulster’s backrow with only around half-a-dozen appearances to his name.

This realisation might have been enough to spook many a young player, but the sight of Ross’s replacement dispelled any notion that Timoney would end up fire-fighting against Benetton Rugby as part of a frighteningly callow back-row unit.

In fact it was quite a poignant moment when fellow Dubliner Greg Jones came on to make his debut as it meant that Timoney was now playing alongside someone who had been with him when both were taking their very first steps in the game.

Two Leinster lads now playing alongside each other for Ulster, 14 years on from when it all began for them when they racked up at Blackrock for mini-rugby.

“Greg’s dad was actually one of my first rugby coaches and we played when we were eight or nine,” he said, though the two ended up at different schools in Dublin, Timoney attending Blackrock College and Jones going to St Andrew’s College.

“I also then played a bit of Under-18s with him and a bit of Under-20s as well.

“We hadn’t played together for a good while, so it was good to get playing with him again,” added Timoney, who has been at Ulster since 2015 while his now housemate Jones, who is 21, only signed up for the Academy last summer.

With 19-year-old Aaron Hall making his debut in the starting side, Ulster played the majority of last Friday’s game with an all-Academy back-row and, though they only just won the game, Timoney felt that all coped reasonably well with the intensity of the occasion.

“I guess that is a pretty big bonus to show that we have the players to step in and do the job,” he said.

“I thought the other two lads (Hall and Jones) did pretty well.”

It was a useful time for Timoney to return to action as well following his first start against the Dragons back in September when he scored two tries before then picking up an ankle injury in the Zebre defeat which sidelined the Ireland Sevens player just when he was building some momentum.

“It was great to get a chance to get back in,” he admitted with more involvement now to come tomorrow evening in the return game with the Dragons over in Newport.

“It’s always an honour to play and, though it (the 23-22 victory over Benetton) probably wasn’t that convincing, at least we got the result.”

True enough, but Ulster know they have to start putting together some rather more complete efforts with Europe just around the corner in the shape of the back-to-back games with Harlequins.

“The performances haven’t been quite where you would want them to be,” admitted Timoney.

“But we’ve won seven from nine in the league and with room for improvement in our performances we can keep ourselves in a good position and keep winning games.

“But, yes, doing it a bit more convincingly is our goal for the next few weeks.”

Another barn-storming performance to match the one he manufactured the last time they played the struggling Dragons would do well, though he expects that his first visit to Rodney Parade will be much more challenging.

He said: “It’s a tough place to go, so we have to be ready for it.”